How safe is this?

[Looking4Love]

How safe is it to meet someone online or through personal ads. Seems to me that there might be a lot of creeps out there. What can you do to be safe?

[hermana]

I think that there are many precautions that you can take to make sure that you are as safe as possible. Have you thought about meeting in a public place with whomever it is that you are meeting? It is probably also a good plan to take and let people know where you are and have a code word for a phone call to check in while you're out.

[Leo]

Online dating is fun but you need to play it safe.. and to your question how?... it's quite simple. You need to have patience and be ready to deal with things very slowly

Step 1: First of all, you need to select online dating service which is right for you. There are tons of online dating sites but there are only few trusted and well known sites. You can read reviews about online dating sites and services through 5 star dating services section. Join at least 2 or 3 online dating service. It usually wouldn't cost more than a dinner for two.

Step 2: Create your profile in detail and be honest.

Step 3: Go through profiles and personals and respond to people interest you the most.

Step 4: Plan a short date in public place. Read more detail about online dating rules for men and women to get more information.

[Nancy]

I would definitely do it through a dating service, especially a well known one. I wouldn't give out address or home phone number and I would keep meeting in public places until I felt comfortable. Leo has some great tips and that article is a good one!

[lonesome50]

Those are all great responses. People tend to lie online. I have done the online dating and I did all the above. I met at a resturant like Mcdonalds, a friend knew where I was, and I also did not give out any personal info. I met a few nice men but nothing great.