News
Safe dating tips from Kaspersky
February 2022 by Kaspersky
Over the past week, the film “Tinder Swindler” has been at the top of the Netflix charts. It is a documentary about a scammer who matched with women on Tinder, presented himself as a rich billionaire, invited them on dates, swindled money from them under various pretexts and then disappeared. The film has already become so popular that leading publications including The Guardian, Vogue, Buzzfeed, BBC, NBC News and more have discussed the film. Following the film’s publicity, Tinder recently announced that the man featured in the documentary has been banned from its platform.
A large number of users of dating services have fears about meeting scammers. In 2021, Kaspersky conducted a survey of dating apps users and found that the majority of respondents were wary of potential partners, with 65% of respondents afraid of becoming victims of scammers.
In that same survey, the majority of users (84%) were ready to meet a date in person within the period of a week to a month. Before the first date, half of respondents (50%) admitted to being nervous and 38% to being excited.
In order to help users, find their perfect match privately and safely, Kaspersky has put together a short list of tips to follow when using dating apps.
• Don’t share photos that give away private information, such as your address or employer. Instead use photos from trips or landmarks with no personal data or other people shown.
• Use the built-in messenger function of dating platforms instead of sharing your phone number or using other messaging apps. If you decide to move to another messenger, make sure it’s set up to keep your data private and protected.
• Use an effective security solution that offers advanced protection across multiple devices. Kaspersky Security Cloud can help manage your apps and remove permissions where they’re not necessary.
• Double-check your privacy settings across social media accounts and dating apps to make sure sensitive information, such as your home address or workplace, isn’t publicly accessible.
• Reduce the risk of doxing by carrying out a self-check. Google yourself and imagine that you were trying to find information on you – see what you can find. You may even be surprised by the data you find.
To help make offline dating safe and enjoyable, Kaspersky presents some simple tips recommended by therapists from the Munich practice, Liebling + Schatz:
• Always meet in public the first few times, whether it’s at a restaurant, going for a walk or to the movies.
• Give someone you trust all the details of your meeting – when, where and who.
• Do not meet near where you live to avoid being followed to your home address.
• Do not share your address right away.
• If you have an uneasy feeling about a person, end the date.
• Remember that you are not obliged to do anything.
• Trust your instincts and do not be over-trusting.
