Newly single for whatever reason?  Tipping the toes into the online dating pool  or even doing it the old fashion way?  Not quit sure if that person you are chatting with is real.  (Think back to the Holly Madison scandal where it was found that a computer was talking dirty with people)  The stories of people being victims of catfish are about as plentiful as the post from Facebook friends telling you to share something and Mark Zuckelburg will send you a check. (It does work for his name or with Microsoft’s name inserted into that scam.)

As you interest in someone goes beyond a friendly, or dirty chat, think about how and if you want to verify what they are telling you is true.  If I’m online I don’t run checks on random people, but if i’m going into business with them I do.  My thoughts are as follow; protect yourself at all costs.  Don’t worry about offending someone when you are doing that.

Our Rules for Online relationship.

#1 Never use an email that reflects your full name, your year of birth, your age (unless you really lie), or the zip code in which you live.

#2 Use a separate email from the one that you use for daily and real family life.  Have 1 just for online activity like for those loyalty rewards cards from all the different business.

#3 Never give out your REAL PHONE NUMBER.  There are a ton of FREE Voip type of call & chat programs.  (If you need a list email us or ask your kids)  When you get one,  don’t even look for one that has your real area code.

#4 Listen to their life story and see what doesn’t make sense.  Again with any online evaluation if it is too good to be true it probably is.

#5 Never loan or give money or anything that you don’t want back.  We all have that 1 friend that always loans but never returns.  Picture them in place of this online stranger.

#6 Do not get involved in their finances, don’t transfer money, write checks, or pay bills for them.  You are both adults, do it yourself.

#7 Video Chat before you you meet.  When and if you meet, don’t do it down the street from your house.  Go to the next town or city over.  If they suggest a place, google it up and look at street view to see whats around.  Do you want to be there with a stranger? Have a call planned from a friend at 30 or 45 min into the meet.

#8 Go to a public place doesn’t even need to be said but here it is anyway

#9 Do NOT use the online “dating checkers”  they are not accurate, and nothing more than old credit headers and paying someone to Google and Bing  someone by name and city.  By the way, why is it that the dating sites have those there? Its not for you but them.  They either run and charge for their own service or they are getting paid advertising fees for posting those ads.  Do they really want a good background check done? I think not, the average person who got a bad report from a faker on any site is probably going to dump that site and go to another dating site.

#10 Talk, this may be a hard one to quantify, but someone whom avoids the phone, or never video chats is a yellow flag.  Now I’m not saying its a RED alert because they may be acting as cautious as you when it comes to video chat and someone seeing them.  But if they constantly have an excuse and you never has actually talked with them on the phone I’d call it  RED.

 

What we can do for you.

Verify their life story with a slimline.  If they claim to have been on 1 place and yet we see them still living with mom or dad the entire time or if their history never even shows them in that state, that might be good to know.  Also dead relatives, nothing pulls a victim in better than feeling empathy for an unknown person who has had a loss.  You will abandon your fear of the stranger, simply because you “feel for them”  We also check on civil and criminal court activites, propertys, phone numbers and more.