Dating App Safety Tips
Research done in early 2024 showed that more than half of adults aged between 18 and 29 years in the United States have used online dating apps to attempt to find love. This group of people is slightly larger than the entire population of Spain. While this method is successful for some to find their happily ever after, for others it has proven to be dangerous.
Of the victims represented in a sex trafficking case prosecuted in federal court in the last 5 years, 63% were recruited through an online platform. While dating apps were not the only online platform used, they are widely represented as a recruitment source used by traffickers. In our experience it is not uncommon for a victim to be seeking love and a trafficker to use a Romeo Pimp tactic of promising love and a future as a method of manipulation and control.
Here are some tips to protect yourself while using dating apps:
– Avoid connecting with profiles that do not have a bio, any linked social accounts, or only one photo. These are indicators of a fake account.
– Check out their social profiles. Look for any mutual friends and make sure the information they list on their dating app rings true to what is on their social profiles as well.
– Wait to share personal information, such as: full name, address and workplace.
– Do not be afraid to say no and remember “No” is a full sentence.
– Do not respond to any requests for financial help.
– Use a secondary phone number such as a Google voice number for any communication until you feel safe.
– Schedule a video chat prior to meeting in-person. This will give you the opportunity to see the person and confirm they are who they say they are before meeting.
– Meet in a public place. Look for something that is well populated, avoid parks or other areas where you can be isolated.
– Provide your own transportation. This way your date will not know where you live or work because there will be no need for them to pick you up. This will also give you the control to leave whenever you feel necessary.
– Tell someone where you are going. Share with them all the details, including screenshots of your dates profile. Check in with them when you return home.
– Use an employee if you feel uncomfortable. If things are starting to get uncomfortable, tell someone working at the location and ask them to help you leave. They can help you if you need to call 911, to create a distraction or help find you a safe ride home.
– Avoid drinking and drugs. While 1 drink may be alright based on what you are comfortable with, know your limits and avoid overindulging to a point your perception is inhibited in anyway.
– Trust your gut. If you feel like something is not right, it probably is not. Listen to your gut and act accordingly.
There are different methods that traffickers use to build an emotional connection with their victims. This allows them to control a victim better in the future.
When using a dating app there are a few things to be on the lookout for that may indicate the other person has negative intentions.
– Answers your specific questions vaguely or their stories seem grandiose or are inconsistent.
– The other person says “I love you” quickly or is overly complimentary and romantic very early in the communication.
– They may use an absurd amount of sweet-talk. Treating you like you are the best person they have ever met after only speaking a few times.
– Pressures you to send photos.
– Requests your address for home or work by saying they plan to send flowers or other gifts.
– They warn you about themselves. If someone tells you, they are “trouble” believe it and cut ties.
– Tries to recruit you for a modeling job or work in a music video or something of that nature.
– Be aware of grooming tactics often used by traffickers. If someone seems too good to be true, they likely are.
Remember no dating app is safe from being used by a predator, be aware regardless of the site you are using. Report any profiles that you think are suspicious through the app’s safety features and if you feel you are in immediate danger, contact law enforcement.
Take a Stand Against Trafficking
Guardian Group exists to prevent and disrupt the trafficking of women and children here in the United States. Our vision is that every child in the US lives free from sex trafficking. Law enforcement across the nation often lacks the time and resources necessary to proactively identify potential victims of trafficking and take action.
We exist to fill the gap; by doing the research work and identifying potential victims to law enforcement we save them valuable time and resources. The Publicly Available Information Reports we pass to law enforcement partners contain the identified individual and valuable account information that can be used by law enforcement to identify force, fraud, or coercion if sex trafficking is occurring. Once this is determined and officer can quickly take action. Resulting in more victims offered a path to freedom.
Help expand our efforts in one of two ways.
- Connect us to local law enforcement. We focus our efforts where we have active US law enforcement partners ready to take action. Share this free resource with the officers in your community.
- Volunteer through Project 1591. The first-ever 24/7 crowdsourcing process and platform that enables volunteers to become force multipliers to Guardian Group’s mission of illuminating child victims of sex trafficking in the United States. See if you have what it takes and start volunteering today!