Online Dating Safety Guide
Tips to help you make your dating experience safe, fun, and enjoyable
Whether you joined Pickleball Date to find the love of your life or just to find companionship or a pickleball playing partner, you need to think of safety first. Our thought of creating a Pickleball date site was that a Pickleball platform could help in making dating a safer place whereas you are more apt to meet at a pickleball court, where there are other people surrounding you when you first start to get to know each other. It’s always safer to meet someone you don’t know in a public place. Remember, Pickleball Date doesn't provide background checks on our members or subscribers and though we take steps to protect our members, ultimately, your online and offline safety is your responsibility and should be your top priority. Use these tips combined with common sense practices to help you look for your relationships.
Meeting for the First Time and until you feel comfortable:
- Meet in a public place where there are other people. Don’t leave the public place!
- Know your limits when drinking alcohol. Don’t do drugs. Drugs & Alcohol impair your judgment.
Many substances that are slipped into drinks to facilitate sexual assault are odorless, colorless, and
tasteless.
- Tell a friend or family member where you are going and who you are meeting and what time you will be back. Check in with them from time to time.
- Make sure you never leave any drink alcohol or non-alcoholic out of your site.
- Use your own transportation; never have them pick you up.
- Never leave your purse or wallet for someone to access or steal information or valuables.
- Carry a fully charged phone and keep it within reach with emergency numbers programmed.
- Consider getting to know the other person before agreeing to meet in person. Don’t be afraid to ask
questions to screen for any red flags or personal dealbreakers. A phone or video call can be a useful
screening tool before meeting in public.
Don’t Rush; Get to Know Someone First
Red Flags You Don’t Want to Ignore When Meeting Someone Online
- They ask you for money. …
- They warn you about themselves. …
- They say “I love you” within days. …
- They won’t send you pictures. …
- They give vague answers on their profile. …
- They talk about their ex. …
- They go heavy on the sweet-talk.
- Pressuring you for your phone number, email, or other personal or financial information right away
- Asking you to communicate through another channel other than Pickleball Date right away; examples: texting, calling, using another site.
- Dodging your questions without providing answers or replies to your messages seem strange or off- topic, trying to sell you services or products.
- Offering you a great job opportunity or wants you to invest in a too-good-to-be-true opportunity or a modeling career opportunity.
- Directing you to pornographic websites or other websites.
- After you get to know them online, they refuse to meet in person or talk on the phone
- Asking you for money to help pay for travel expenses to see you or medical bills making you feel sorry for them.
Protect Your Personal Information & Your Account
- Never include your last name, email address, home address, telephone number, place of work or any other identifying information in your profile or messages during initial communication.
- Once you’ve given out personal information, you cannot take it back.
- Pickleball Date will never ask you to download additional apps or programs.
- Use caution when accessing your account from a public or shared computer so that others can’t view or record your password or personal information.
- Be sure to pick a strong password, and always be careful when logging into your account from a public or shared computer. Pickleball Date will never send you an email asking for your username and password information — if you receive an email asking for account information, report it immediately.
Do Your Own Research So You Can Use Your Best Judgment To Be Safe
- Do your own research to learn more about someone and make informed decisions before you meet. Check to see if the person you’re interested in is on other social networking sites like Facebook, do a web search to see if there are other records of the person online, and use government resources that are publicly available and paid services. PICKLEBALL DATE DOES NOT ROUTINELY SCREEN OUR MEMBERS, INQUIRE INTO THE BACKGROUND OF OUR MEMBERS, ATTEMPT TO VERIFY INFORMATION PROVIDED BY OUR MEMBERS, OR CONDUCT CRIMINAL SCREENINGS OF OUR MEMBERS.
- Stop and take the proper steps to keep yourself safe. You are responsible for your safety. We know how exciting it is when you first meet someone, but don’t rush it. Remember, sometimes people aren’t who they seem. That being said, there are many more good people that are honest just like you wanting to meet the right person to spend their life with or just to play a friendly game of pickleball! Please just take the proper precautions.
Learn more
To learn more details about ways to help you stay safe while dating online visit the Federal Trade Commission’s Online Dating Scams site at http://www.onguardonline.gov/articles/0004-online-dating-scams.
