If you have been selected for a Pink Lobster Matchmaking Programme, congratulations!! This means that we will be interviewing all prospective matches and introductions. It's still very important to keep your information secure online and to take precautions across any website or platform where you may have your private information stored.
Here are our top tips to stay safe online.
There is also further advice on Pink Lobster Dating's safety page.
1. If a member’s profile only has 1 image - be careful! They should have more than one as it is more likely they are real. It also helps if the images need to be manually verified before they are allowed to be published. This is because no technical verification is 100% secure.
2. If you can sign up to a site and instantly see all the members and their details, remember that it will be same the other way around. If you don’t mind everyone seeing everything about you that’s fine, otherwise leave the site and go elsewhere.
3. The emails you are receiving need to be personal i.e. if your name is not in it or it has nothing related to you and your profile, start asking questions.
4. Don’t put overtly sexual photos of yourself online as you don’t know where they are going to end up.
5. Do your research before joining any website. Always read the Terms and Conditions as many sites, such as White Label Platforms, will catch you out by saying that they can reuse your profile and photos on other sites that they own or affiliated to (and they could own thousands and thousands of these websites).
6. Be careful what you include in your profile – i.e. don’t make it too personal because you don’t know who is seeing it and your details could be used for other purposes.
7. Don’t speak to someone online for too long, just exchange a few messages before you arrange a date. This way those sites that have fake profiles and messages will not be able to get to you. Also if they are never available to speak or are being funny about it, that is normally a sign that they are not real. At the same time many scammers and dodgy sites will have people or bots messaging you like they are a real person. Sometimes people may even be Skype scammed to retrieve personal details or extortion.
8. Become a social media stalker – most people are on at least one platform. There is nothing wrong with conducting a little pre-date research to make sure the person you’re talking to is the deal real. No internet presence? Avoid.
9. When you go on a date, make sure it is in a public place where others will see you. Importantly, tell someone where you are going and some details of the date, e.g. name, where they are from, the company they work for, username on the site etc.
If you are unsure DO NOT risk it… after all there are plenty of genuine people out there.
You can of course ask your Key Matchmaker if you are on one of our programmes.
And remember if you follow our tips... have fun!!