8 dating safety tips everyone should know

Many risks in online dating can be reduced. Not by being suspicious of everyone, but with a few simple habits.

Tip 1: Only share your number when you're sure. Your phone number is more personal than your name. It allows callbacks, WhatsApp searches and in the worst case stalking. Only share it after building real trust, or use a dating platform that lets you call anonymously.

Tip 2: First meeting always in public. Café, restaurant, park, busy square. Never a private apartment. Anyone who insists on inviting you home is a warning sign.

Tip 3: Tell someone where you're going. Tell a friend: name and profile of your date, location, approximate time, when you'll be home. This takes hardly any time.

Tip 4: Your own way there and back. Come by your own transport. No shared rides on the first date. This gives you the freedom to leave at any time.

Tip 5: Reverse image search before the date. Right-click on a profile photo → "Search image" on Google or tineye.com. If the image turns up under different names on other sites, the police say you can assume the photo is being misused and the profile is fake (source 1).

Tip 6: No money transfers. In the German state of Saxony alone, police counted 280 cases of love scamming in 2023 in which the fraud succeeded, with total losses of around 4.6 million euros (source 1). Many victims are ashamed and never report it (source 2). Rule: never transfer money to someone you don't know personally.

Tip 7: Trust your gut feeling. If something feels off (strangely worded answers, too much pressure, weird requests), that feeling is valid. Blocking and reporting is always the right decision.

Tip 8: Link social media only after the date. Your Instagram or LinkedIn reveals more than you think. Share this only after you've met the person in real life.

At talkbeforedate, Tip 1 is structurally solved: calls run anonymously through the platform. You can call without ever sharing your number.