Girls who give their number on dating sites

What to Know About the Safety of Online Dating

Online dating apps create a buffer between you and a potential match. They allow you to safely connect with someone and chat through a third-party platform without sharing too much personal information. But, eventually, if you’re going to meet up with that person or begin to actually date, you’ll need to share some personal info, right?

The CEO of Scruff, an online dating app for gay men, once shared his thoughts on giving out your real number to people you meet online. “If you switch from the app to text messaging,” he said, “there’s no community support to protect you and it’s going to be much harder for you to get help if there’s some kind of issue.”

So, before even moving off the app, whether you’re using a fake phone number or not, it’s important to think about whether or not you’re ready to leave the safety of the online community in the app (and the support their team offers you).

It’s super important to take precautions when online dating. Why? 1 in 10 online profiles is a scammer, and 53% of online daters are exaggerating or lying in their profiles.

To assess the safety of a potential Tinder date or Bumble meet-up, think about how you’d approach the situation. You’re inclined to ask for their phone number or Instagram account just to verify that they’re real. Well, they’re doing the same thing with your information before the date, too.

Think about:

• How easily accessible is your information to the public?

• Can someone find your social media accounts using a reverse image search?

• Is your information available on Spokeo?

• Is it easy to find you on LinkedIn?

These are just basic questions, of course. But, if you’re not comfortable with a potential date knowing any of the above points or having access to that kind of information, you’ll definitely want to think about using the Burner phone app.