The website puts into place many security safeguards to protect people to the best of their ability. It is up to you to work with them in abiding by all the rules and regulations. One of the main rules is that you should never give your true email address to anyone. The dating service will provide you with one and hide the true one that you must give them. When you are replying to an email from a date, never do it by hitting the reply button, as this may disclose your real email address. Instead, go to the website and reply from there.

When you are emailing a date, even if they seem really nice, never reveal your home telephone number or your home address. It may be that they are not as nice as you think and they will stalk or harass you if you try to break up with them. Some people can be really nice until you do something they don’t want you to, such as breaking up. Don’t reveal your last name either, until you are sure that the person can be trusted.

Another thing you must not do is reveal your credit card details, or offer to pay them money for anything, no matter how sincere they might sound. If anyone asks you for money or even hints that they need money, be on the alert immediately. If they begin to harass you using your website email address, block contact with them immediately and report them to the website owners. They will be able to blacklist them and remove them from the website.

If you receive an email purporting to be from whatever website dating service you joined up with that asks for money or credit card details, be sure to look at the blue address bar at the top and see if it has the name of the web-host on it. It might be a good idea to contact them separately and ask if they have emailed you. You can copy and paste the email you received and send it to them to check out.

With all these cautions in place, you should be quite as well protected online as you are in the real world.

There shouldn’t be any inconsistencies if people are telling the truth so if you find that someone has told you something at some stage and that information differs from another discussion they had with you then be wary of that person.

The inconsistencies can relate to any areas of their life from their employment to their age, profession, interests or other things they talk about.

Take note if this happens to see whether it is an isolated incident and possibly a misunderstanding or whether the person is giving you false information.

If they are cagey about revealing information on topics that you wouldn’t expect to cause concern then that is another thing that you should deal with before accepting an invitation to meet up.

Don’t be afraid to expect direct answers to your questions regarding any matters that seem unusual and if you are unsatisfied with the information you receive then consider ending the relationship before you have any problems as honesty is a key to any successful relationship and if you haven’t got that from the start you are unlikely to get it as time goes by.

If the person gets agitated or annoyed at any comments or questions then that is another warning sign for you to consider and moving on to a more suitable person might be the best idea at that stage to ensure your safety and happiness.

Always remember that there are many people to choose from and even if this one took a long time to find the next person, who might be a lot more suitable, could be just around the corner.

You don’t need to compromise and particularly when it comes to matters as important as trust and safety.

First you will receive an email from them to show you that they are interested. Of course, your real email address will be hidden, so don’t just hit the ‘reply’ button or you will risk revealing it. You need to log in to the dating website and then go to your prospective date’s profile. Read everything they have written about themselves and see if it is a fit with what you would like in a date.

You might be able to tell what sort of person they are from the wording of their first email to you. If they have written something like, Hey Babe, let’s hit the beaches tomorrow, When you specifically asked to be addressed by the name you’ve chosen for your profile, then you can be reasonably sure that this is not the person you are looking for. It may seem like a little thing at first glance, but if someone can’t respect your wishes in a small thing, will they be likely to respect them in a more important issue?

Other things to watch out for in their emails are things like do they seem to avoid answering your questions, do they seem to anger easily, and are they controlling? Watch for respect. If a person sounds respectful it is a good sign. Some people tend to forget that a real person with real feelings is on the other end of their email.

Once you decide not to use the anonymous email address provided by the dating service, choose a free email account (eg hotmail) and never reveal your full name. The same applies to telephone calls. Use a cell phone or an anonymous telephone service for phone calls until you get to know the person better.

Once you decide to meet in person, take note of whether they look like their photo. If they have told you that their photo is a recent one, but you can see it’s not, then you know they have lied to you. Once again, if they can tell a white lie, then they can tell a whopper, so be careful. Once you put a few safeguards into place, go ahead and have some fun. You’ll enjoy it all the more knowing you are safe.

Having a friend come along with you can also help maintain your safety particularly for females.

If you find that the person is reluctant for you to meet their friends or family this could raise concerns as to why this might be so. Don’t leave anything to chance and if you do have concerns bring them out into the open and get them sorted before meeting with them.

If they refuse to address any issues you have or don’t give you direct answers to your questions then it is up to you to take control and delay any meetings until you are satisfied with the information you have.

You need to always be aware of your safety.

While some of the dating sites do background checks on their members in areas such as marital status and criminal history you will still need to take additional steps to make sure you don’t get into problematic situations.

Just as there are people with ulterior motives in the offline world there are those, even on the best dating sites that can cause trouble.

You should use the fact that your initial contact with anyone is from the safety of your own computer to find out all the information you can about them.

The more contact you make with your online friends before meeting in person the more likely you are to find out whether there should be any reason to avoid them.

It can be a good idea to get the person to join you in the group chat rooms where they are more likely to let their guard down and you will get a clearer view of what they are really like.

Use all the services provided by the dating site to help you move your relationship forward while still remaining in control.

Many dating sites organize dinners and outings for their members and this can be a great way to meet someone for the first time offline while still having the security of a controlled environment.

While the chance of this happening is minimal you can avoid the inconvenience of it happening to you by keeping all your personal information private.

If you are contacting one another by email it is best to get a specific email address for that purpose so you can keep that part of you life separate from your business and personal information.

Google.com has a very good email service called gmail that can be found at the following link http://gmail.google.com and the reason this service is recommended is because you can save all your correspondence and that will allow you to search back through your emails to find information about the person that you might need to recall.

Never give anyone your home address until you are completely comfortable to do so as you might decide after a while that you would like to end the relationship and it is a lot easier if they don’t know where you live as they could be the type of person who could start harassing you when the relationship ends.

If you are talking via phone you can use your cell phone and if there are any problems it will be easier to get a new number.

Until you are sure you want the person to know more about you it is also good to keep your place of employment to yourself and if you feel any pressure to reveal this information just tell them that you prefer to wait until you are a little further into your relationship. If they can’t accept that then you have cause to be concerned. You should never feel pressured into doing anything that you aren’t comfortable with.

There are so many more people these days getting the partner that is most suitable for them due to the fact that they now have the opportunity to look further afield than their own community where they can find people who have similar interests and expectations to their own.

The number of people who are joining these dating sites is increasing at a rate that many would never have dreamed about.

There are literally millions of people who have their profiles online looking for friendship, companionship, love and even just occasional encounters with other likeminded people.

Virtually anything you expect from a relationship can be found online.

The volume of people in these sites alone makes them the ultimate place to quickly find the one you are looking for.

When something delivers the results as well as the online dating sites have proven to do then their success is assured and as this has been the situation there have been many more dating sites appearing in recent years that cater for specific markets.

There are dating sites that cater for various different ethnic groups and also sites that cater for religious preferences. Then there are the sites that cater more for the adult market and amongst those sites there are many and varied niches that should keep anyone happy no matter what there preferences are.

Many people tend to join more than one online dating site because that improves their chances of meeting the type of people they are searching for.

The ability to increase your chances of finding friendship is such a small investment when you consider the value that these dating sites offer.

Once people see the opportunities that are available to them it’s not hard to see why they are encouraged to join even more sites and see what they have to offer too.

Whether you join one or many of the online dating sites you will certainly have a lot more chance of finding a suitable partner than you would without the help of the online databases you will get access to.

There are so many people who get into relationships where one person has different expectations than the other and they only find out about it 6 months or a year or two down the line.

And imagine what might have happened during that time.

The person you were meant to be with might have found someone else while you were floundering around with the wrong person.

And they probably found them on an online dating site too because that’s where a lot of the connections are made these days.

Can you afford to waste months or years of your life with the wrong person? I would like to think that you treasure your time enough to not let that happen.

Online dating sites are a lot like the pre-selling that goes on in any form of marketing.

You get to talk to one another in a relaxed manner online before you even decide whether you want to meet.

You should feel free to express exactly what you want from your life as this will help you to attract the right person you are looking for.

The simple fact that there are so many people on these sites to choose from should make it easier to not have to put on ‘airs’ and say things that aren’t true simply to please the other person.

It’s not like a pickup in a night club where you might say you like particular things just to increase your chances of getting a date.

Online most people tend to me more honest about themselves as that’s the way to attract the right type of person.

A little harmless flirting is allowed on many sites. For instance, you may be able to send what is called a Virtual Kiss. This is simply a message or icon to let someone know that you find their profile interesting and would like them to contact you. You will see on your own profile the icon that allows you to send a virtual kiss, or something similar. On the other hand, there is also a tool that allows you to block the reception of any virtual kisses, so you can still feel safe.

Most of the rules that online dating services have are for your own protection and so should not be flouted. When you receive any contact from a prospective date, you have the option of not replying if you don’t want to. However, it is considered better manners to send the person a politely worded email declining their invitation. Simply tell them that you don’t wish to have contact wit them at this time and give your reason. It might be because you don’t like their looks, but if so, be very tactful and just say you don’t think they would be what you are looking for. It won’t hurt you to wish them well in their other dating endeavors.

There are enough people out there to put others down. Don’t be one of them. It will leave you feeling better about yourself if you let them down gently. After all, you would not like it if someone were tactless and rude to you. A good rule of thumb is to say to others what you would like them to say to you.

Once you have agreed to contact with your date, you should still be polite and well mannered, just as if you were on a real date. And if at any time either of you should decide this relationship is not right for you, then you should be honest yet tactful about it. Remember that you should remain in control of your life and don’t allow anyone to harass you or talk you into changing your mind about what you know you should do.

By adding some of your details in your header it will help filter out those people who aren’t looking for someone like you and at the same time attract those who are.

Your header could state that you are ‘An LA windsurfer looking for a Blonde Beach Girl’

Now that makes it easy for people to quickly see whether they might be a candidate for a friendship doesn’t it?

Or maybe you are ‘Looking for a female travel companion in her 30’s’

If you were in your thirties and loved travel you would probably be interested in clicking on that person’s profile to find out more information wouldn’t you?

Make it easy for the right people to find you and you will get better results sooner.

Think of what your most important requirements are and see if you can include that in your header as a filter to get more targeted people contacting you.

Now if you can also add some humor to that heading or something clever that would also attract attention you will be boosting your chances of getting the right people wanting to know more about you in droves.

You will also save yourself a lot of time by not having to deal with people who contact you that aren’t suitable.

When they get to your profile you can expand on this information to filter the prospects even further.

The people who have the most success with the online dating sites are those who take the time to decide what they are really after and then focus all of their efforts on getting precisely that.

If you haven’t any idea of what you really want then you are only going to attract people who don’t really care what they get.

If you become convinced that this person is not what you are after in a date, then you will be able to decline the invitation. Look carefully at your screen and you’ll see an icon that will give you the option to block the person from contacting you. Use this option if you wish to have no contact whatsoever. However, many websites prefer you to send the person a polite email to decline the invitation and give your reason why. They feel that this will enhance the friendly feel that they want the site to have and make everyone’s experience of it a happy one.

If they seem a nice person, but you just don’t want them to contact you – you might have others in view – be firm, but polite and let them know that it is nothing personal. You don’t want them to feel depressed about themselves for weeks because you rejected them. Let them know it has nothing to do with their looks or any thing else, but is just a personal decision on your part. Assure them that they will be sure to meet many other people who will be eager to date them. Being kind like this will make you feel good about yourself and help the recipient of your email to feel the same. Good manners and kindness don’t cost anything.

You will also be able to block any initial contact such as anyone sending you what is called a Virtual Kiss or some other kind of flirtation. Go to your profile details and uncheck the box next to that the icon to disable it if you wish to. Doing this right at the start of your online experience may save you from having to explain why you don’t want to make contact with them. Remember, if you stay in control of your online dating experience you will be happier and safer. It is important to trust your instincts and use common sense with online dating, just as you would with offline dating.