Security Tips for Internet Socializing

Here a few tips and steps you can take to help keep you a little safer when using the internet to make friends or find love. Once your sure the person is who they claim to be, then you can take it from there as to how you handle communications and what you share with them. This information is not to scare you, it’s just to protect you from the creeps that may be lurking. Terrorist groups get a lot of their funding for the internet, because people are foolishly allowing it, without even knowing they are doing it. TMI (too much information) is not a good thing.

Never Give Out Your Phone Number.

The way I chose to do this was to get a Google Voice account. It was fairly easy, free and I feel much more secure. I can also use this number to post on listings I may have on craigslist or eBay. This simply makes the most sense to me, read about it, check it out and decide for yourself. Your safety is important, as well as your loved ones.

This is a free service. You can get a phone app as well. It’s easy to manage and has several videos to help you out along the way. What’s really cool, … if you block someone they will get a recording stating the number is no longer in service (happy dance). Feel free to call or text that person you met on a dating site, or in a chat room, your personal information will be safe and if it doesn’t work out…………”block them”  They most likely will delete your number from their phone. You can still have theirs if you decide to reconsider. This provides a way to talk back and forth without worry. How cool is that? It’s a must have as far as I’m concerned.

If you have not created any dating site accounts yet, you could even find a name that you can match your number to, but it’s getting hard to do that, unless your name is short. Example: If your username is Buzzy, you may be able to get a number such as 502-buz-zy73. It would be best to find the name, that is available, that you could use when you sign up for Google Voice first and then check the dating site to see if you can incorporate the two some how. You may want to consider getting a new gmail account and email for use only with communications through the internet. Then set up the google voice number with that account.

Always Edit Your Pictures.

Re-size and use some kind of watermark on your pictures. I like pixlr to edit my photos. It’s easy to upload your photos, edit and resize them. It’s fun to use and if you upgrade you get a lot more options. Using the smallest picture the website will accept is usually the best way to go. You can reduce the quality as well, to discourage reuse. Most will give you guidelines to go by when posting a picture on your profile. Believe it or not, people will steal your photos and use them however they please, so be sure to consider this when posting photos online for all to see or to simply send to someone who requests a photo, if you do not personally know and trust this person. It’s worth the few minutes it takes to insure your safety.

To place a watermark on your photos, create a new image, by using that option for “pixlr editor”. You simply create a photo with some words on it in various sizes. I will post soon as to how to create this watermark template, with step by step instructions soon and the link will be found here once completed.

Do Not Give Out Personal Information.

I know, this one is kind of a “no brainer”, but I had to mention it, just to be on the safe side. Even giving out personal information here and there can be harmful. The frauds and undesirables will often keep notes and piece things together as they communicate with you. Do you really know for sure if your texting or chatting with two people or one? That they are not actually the same person who is claiming to be someone else? Do not tell them the day you were born in one conversation and the month in some other, most likely they will already know how old you are and get a pretty good idea of the year. After all, we do not know if this person is the future love of our life or not, so we do not want to lie to them.

If they can not understand your concerns for your security, then perhaps they need to be in your “not” column. You need to think like a scam artists, to protect yourself from them and just assume everyone is, until you can honestly say otherwise. Guilty until proven innocent is not a bad way to look at it.

Personal information includes Social Media information too, such as Facebook. You probably have friends and family in your friends lists and if you do not have your security settings on FB set very high, you will put your friends and family at risk also. ” Hey, I’m, so and so, a friend of your moms”. You do not want this. When it comes to internet encounters Trust must be earned!!

Caution Is Key

Beware, men will pose as women, with pictures they have taken from someone who shared pictures with them or that they stole from the internet. Some will work in teams. Be cautious is all I’m saying. Women will pose as men as well and this can be very dangerous, they seem to understand where a woman is coming from or what they want a man to act like and will take advantage of it, to the fullest extent.

This should go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway. Never give someone money, your bank info in any form, card numbers or other sensitive material. If they tell you they want to send you some money or flowers, think about verifying they are who they claim to be first. Have them take a picture of themselves holding their license in their left hand, so you can enlarge to see they are who they claim to be. Tell them it is fine to put some tape over their address or license number.

If they say they will do it tomorrow, be cautious, they may need a bit of time to whip out a fake license. In today’s age of instant photo sharing, everyone has a camera on their phone or a webcam, they should be able to comply immediately. When they tell you they can now send you the photo you requested, change your request a little. Have them take pic of license in their right hand. If a red flag flies in your head, please adhere to this warning and keep your guard up or end all communications immediately. Better to be safe than sorry.

Get A New Email Address

Get an email address that you won’t care, if it’s hacked or sold to advertisers, to share if you must. Use it only for internet dating or encounters. Many see no harm in sharing an email address. Think again. Do you really want to have to change your email address and notify all your friends and family of the new one? All those accounts you have set up for auto pay, or have to use your email address to log in, will have to be changed as well. pretty hard to sift though 100-1000 emails a day because you gave your address to the wrong person. Also, using something other than Yahoo for this email address is also advised. Yahoo is often compromised and simply not as safe as say, Google (gmail) is.

Always Meet In A Public Setting.

If your a woman you may want to consider being fashionably late or early, so you can go inside before making contact. You should always meet someone for the first time in a safe environment, let people see you together and it’s not a bad idea to ask if you can take a picture of them to send to someone while you are together. Especially if you decide to go some place more secluded, such as walk on the beach or travel to a new location together. Snap a pic of their license plate or vehicle and send it to someone you trust as well. You should always let someone know where you are or what you are doing if your meeting someone off the internet, not just your first meetings either. Tell someone always, until you really know this person.

Before You Meet

To save you both some time, ask for a picture of them holding an object of your choice, a piece of paper with your name on it, or another way of confirming it is a current picture and you know exactly what they look like. You know they know what you look like, but do you really know for sure what they look like? Are you certain they are a man or a woman for that matter? Men need to be cautious as well. You don’t want to get jumped by a few guys with guns or knives when you think your meeting a nice lady. A man that went to meet someone they met online, not far from here, is now missing. Don’t think it won’t happen to you. Think again!

Confirmation pictures may save you both some time. If someone can’t do that for you, then they must be hiding something they don’t want you to see. If they do not send a full body shot, you can always make it a request. Remember, you should always act first by offering to send them a pic that you have place a watermark on, so they can not use it for something “phishy”. This is also a good idea if you are communicating with someone that claims to be someplace that does not allow you to meet one another for a while. Often these people are not who they claim to be. They will always think of one excuse after another to get out of sending you what you request.

Spot Translator Errors

Quite often translating software and devices are not perfect. This will allow you to notice small things that may tell you they are using a translator of some kind. Simple misunderstandings are a good way as well. Something that makes perfect sense in plain “English” may not make sense in translation. If someone says  “I loves you so much”( key word being loves), a red flag should fly.Translators often make this mistake. Another one is “you important to me” and “you makes me so happy”. Just be cautious and get a confirmation photo of them before you get emotionally attached or involved.

They may only be using you, for what ever their reason. It’s not always money they seek. These scam artists will fish (phish) for information over long periods of time. They may want your address to send you a gift. Quite often they are willing to send you a few dollar trinket or flowers to gain your trust. They are planning on getting it all back and then some, so be cautious. If they want to send you something, tell them you will contact the place and give them your address after they place the order.  If they can’t accept your cautions, then it’s best to not accept gifts or “RUN”.

Quite often these scam artists will leave a few communication errors intentionally. This allows them to target the most naive individuals. Afer all, if they are willing to overlook these errors, what else will they be willing to overlook?

Quit funding Terrorist activities and those who prey on your feelings.

Be vigilant, be cautious, be careful, your errors could be allowing terrorists groups to finance their killing sprees. Quit sharing things on FB and other social media without investigating them thoroughly first to make sure they are legitimate. People make money from doing this!!!!! Pay per clicks is big money! You are helping them generate money….

): STOP DOING THIS PLEASE 🙁

If you think I’m crazy, check for yourself. Here is one link from The Guardian you may find interesting.

Facebook spammers make $200m just posting links,…

 

 

Just you use your head, listen to your conscience, adhere to red flags . You can be safely searching for someone you may never be able to meet any other way. Even if friendship is all you seek. I have some great friends I’ve never met before, but we talk often. Have fun, not everyone is a creep. There are some really great people out there. Don’t let a few bad eggs spoil it for you. Don’t give a complete stranger that kind of power… Just be careful and smarter than they are.

Be sure to see my Dating Profiles page to help you create a profile that can give someone a good first impression of you. If your using internet dating sites, you will want to give it your best shot. Right?