Online dating can be a scary game. For one, users could be chatting with an AI (artificial intelligence)-powered chatbot instead of a real person. But that’s not the only risk of online dating. Users could also get catfished by scammers who are targeting people for money. While dating apps often employ a host of checks and filters in order to ensure that only genuine profiles show up on their platforms, these checks and balances are often not enough. To add to that, easy availability of advanced AI-based tools and the plethora of information available online has made it a whole lot easier for scammers to dupe people by following their digital activity closely.
So, if you are planning to surf the rough waters of online dating, here are 10 tips you can keep in mind to ensure that you meet and chat only with genuine people.
10 Tips to protect yourself from risks of online dating
- Use a complex password, which includes a mix of letters, numbers, and special symbols.
- Use different passwords for different platforms and enable two-factor authentication.
- Kaspersky suggests that users should run a reverse-image search for the profile of a person you are interested in or have started dating recently. If it appears on multiple pages under various names, it’s likely a catfisher or a scammer.
- Be wary of sudden and intense expressions of love, or requests for money.
- Use video calls to verify a dater’s identity before meeting in person.
- Customise the privacy settings of your own dating profile and social media accounts to control who can see your posts and personal information.
- Avoid sharing posts that contain details that could disclose your location, workplace, or routines — details that could help track you.
- The security research firm also recommends that users be mindful of metadata or other identifiable clues in photos that can reveal your identity, location, or details that you would like to keep private.
- Change your password if you have shared it with someone you have been dating but are no longer in touch with.
- Conduct an audit of your social media accounts to understand what’s publicly visible.
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