Online dating safety: are we doing enough?

April 21st, 2007

A new report published in the UK, has shown that most British Internet users do not trust online services, but use them anyway because they believe the benefits outweigh the risks. Add that to the fact that many UK users are simply not safety aware and it’s no surprise that people keep getting scammed. Are dating sites doing enough to ensure their users’ online dating safety?

Many dating sites employ moderators to weed out the scammers, but that is not always enough to stop all of them from getting through. Nasty, unethical sites lull their users into a false sense of security, but really what we need is some serious online dating safety education.

How much information is available on your site to educate people about potential dangers? Is it available somewhere obvious, or is it hidden somewhere at the back of the site? The potential existence of scammers on the site is not something any site owner would like to talk about, but really, it’s something that has to be done as part of our responsibility to our customers. Like everything else that is not a positive feature, it should be handled delicately, but it should definitely be handled, rather than swept under the carpet.

Having worked in the industry for long enough, I sometimes forget that people out there may simply not be aware of the dangers and pitfalls that come with online dating. Online dating safety is really very simple and an early warning could be all it takes to stop someone from getting hurt.
I used to work as a customer advisor so I know very well that sometimes customers don’t want to believe that their beloved “Ludmila” is actully a fat, hairy guy. Maybe if they’d known in advance to watch out for such scams, they never would have fallen for “Ludmila” in the first place.

I like the way Match and Dating Direct handle the issue of scammers in their safety section (“a handful of scammers”, nice) and I am shocked so many dating sites don’t even have a visible “online dating safety” section on the site. In particular, I think users should be openly encouraged to contact the customer service or moderating team if they suspect anything is too good to be true or not as it should be.

God, I hate scammers.

Related posts:

1. Online Dating Safety Tips
2. Online dating – who’s responsible for your safety?

Entry Filed under: Industry stuff,Online Dating Rants