Rules for dating safely online:

• As an online dater, the first rule you must understand is that while most of people online (99.99%) are honest and sincere people, there are bad people on the Internet. Every online dating site has these predators. At Naija Dateline, we have dozens of systems in place to catch these people quickly and close their accounts. It is important to be vigilant, report unscrupulous behavior, and follow our guidelines. When we come across suspicious members, those sending email addresses, instant messenger handles, and/or phone numbers in bulk will find their account closed immediately.

• Never give out personal contact information within the first couple of correspondences. Get to know someone first by exchanging a few emails. Giving your email address out to an unknown person, can bring you a world of endless spam promoting V1agr4 and Hot Teen Sex.

• Go slow!!! Start with emails and then move to instant messaging. Once you have chatted about all your interests, likes, and dislikes, you may finally feel comfortable enough with the other person and it might be an appropriate time to talk on the phone.

• Ask a lot of questions. Listen for inconsistency in his or her answers. Trust your instinct, if something feels wrong it probably is wrong. If they say they have a P.H.D in English, but can barely put a sentence together with proper grammar, something is probably not right.

• When you first meet, meet in a public setting. Coffee shop, ice cream parlor, and local pubs are good examples.

• Don't let him or her pick you up at your home on a first meeting. That way if you are not interested in the person, you do not have to worry about them stalking you. Stay away from isolated poorly lit meeting spots. Red flags should go off in your mind if someone asks you to meet them in the back alley, a poorly lit area, or an isolated area.

• Make sure someone knows where you are going and with whom.

• Refrain from serious emotional feelings about this person until after you have met this person in person. You may just be setting yourself up for disappointment and frustration.

• Never meet a person without seeing a picture. Demand several pictures, face, full body, and action shot. Be weary of professional quality pictures. Look and see if they have their friends, family, or pets in their pictures with them. Usually scammers and fakers do not put friends, family, or their pet pictures in their profile. Pictures can tell a lot about a person.

• If someone tells you they love you without ever meeting them first…big huge red flags should be waving in your mind. Either they are desperate, or are trying to appeal to your emotions so when they hit you up for some money you quickly reach for your wallet.

• If someone keeps emailing you and you are not interested the best way to stop them from contacting you, is to use the block feature. This will prevent that person from ever sending you emails or winks again.

• Beware of 419 people who give out their phone number too soon. Never accept a wire tranfer offer. It is a SCAM.

Here are some basic rules to follow regarding any online scam including dating scams:

           NEVER pay anything up front for ANY reason.

          NEVER extend credit to anyone for ANY reason.

          NEVER accept any wire transfer offer from ANY one online

          NEVER wire transfer money EVER for any reason.

          NEVER rely on your bank to bail you out or cover your losses.

Types of people to watch out for in the online dating world:

1. Fakers
   Fakers are the type of people who post fake profiles…typically of someone much better looking then they really are, and they are not the picture of the real person who is writing you. Their goal can be one of many things; one goal may be to bait and switch you. Show you great pictures of a good looking person and then have you meet them, only to be disappointed thinking you will still like them. Sometimes they do it for giggles and laughs. They think it is funny to pretend to be someone else and don't really care about a relationship or feelings. When it comes down to actually meeting…they are suddenly no where to be found.
2. Spammers
   There are a few types of online dating spammers out there. Most of them try to harvest your email address so they can send you a lifetime of endless spam. Once your email gets on a spam list it's almost impossible to get it off. Spammers typically post fake profiles posing as a beautiful woman looking for love. She may even correspond with you a couple times to get you to trust her. Then she hits you up with a request for you to email her directly to her email address. Once you do, you will never hear from this person again, and you will soon be getting your first wave of spam emails. The other type of spammer is typically a porn person that tries to get you to visit their website in hopes you will sign up for their "free trial" service. You put in your credit card and…surprise! You are now being charged $9.95 per month for a porn subscription you don't want.