Match.com is responsible for more dates, relationships and marriages than any other dating site. At Match, user safety is a priority. We understand that meeting someone for the first time whether online, through an acquaintance or on an outing is intriguing and exciting, however, your safety is very important and because you are in control of your Match experience, there are certain safety steps that you should follow while dating – both online and offline.
We ask you to read the tips and information below, and strongly urge you to follow these guidelines in the interest of your personal safety and well-being. However, you are always the best judge of your own safety, and these guidelines are not intended to be a substitute for your own judgment.
Online Behavior
Finance: Protect Your Finances & Never Send Money or Financial Information
Never respond to any request to send money, especially overseas or by wire transfer, and report it to us immediately – even if the person claims to be in an emergency. Wiring money is like sending cash: the sender has no protections against loss and it’s nearly impossible to reverse the transaction or trace the money. For more information, click on the video below to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's advice to avoid online romance scams, also available here:
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0004-online-dating-scams.
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Protect Your Personal Information
Never give personal information, such as: your social security number, credit card number or bank information, or your work or home address to people you don’t know or haven’t met in person.
Note: Match will never send you an email asking for your username and password information. Any such communications should be reported immediately.
Be Web Wise
Block and report suspicious users. You can block and report concerns about any suspicious user anonymously from any profile page, email or messaging window. Keep conversations on the platform. Bad actors will try to move the conversation to text, personal email or phone conversations.
Report All Suspicious Behavior
Additionally, please report anyone who violates our terms of use
here. Examples of terms of use violations include:
- Asking you for money or donations.
- Requesting photographs.
- Minors using the platform.
- Members sending harassing or offensive messages or emails.
- Members behaving inappropriately during or after meeting in person.
- Fraudulent registration or profiles.
- Spam or solicitation, such as invitations to call 1-900 numbers or attempts to sell products or service.
Offline Behavior
First in-person meetings are exciting, but always take precautions and follow these guidelines to help you stay safe.
Get to Know the Other Person
Keep your communications on the platform and really get to know users online/using the app before meeting them in person. Bad actors often push people to communicate off the platform immediately. It’s up to you to research and do your due diligence.
Always Meet and Stay in Public
Meet for the first few times in a populated, public place – never in a private or remote location and never at your date’s home or apartment. If your date pressures you, end the date and leave at once.
Tell Your Friends and Family Members of Your Plans
Inform a friend or family member of your plans and when and where you’re going. Make sure you have your cell phone charged and with you at all times.
Transport Yourself to and from the Meeting
You need to be independent and in control of your own transportation, especially in case things don’t work out.
Stay Sober
Consumption of alcohol and/or other drugs can impair your judgment and potentially put you in danger. It’s important to keep a clear mind and avoid anything that might place you at risk. Be aware that bad actors might try to take advantage of you by altering your beverage(s) with synthetic substances.
Health
Match welcomes everyone and empowers our community of users to create and cultivate relationships. An important aspect of any healthy relationship though – whether formed on Match or otherwise – is ensuring proper sexual health and safety. And as an essential member of the Match community it is your responsibility to make sure you do the following, if you choose to engage in sexual activity.
Protect Yourself
You and your partner should use proper protection. Condoms and other mechanisms can significantly reduce the risk of contracting or passing on an STI, such as HIV. However, you can still get certain STI’s, like herpes or HPV from contact with your partner’s skin even when using a condom. To be effective, however, protective measures must be used consistently.
Be Open and Honest
It is completely reasonable to have a conversation with your partner regarding sex and sexual contact before actually having it. All issues ranging from the number of partners each of you has had, to the last time each of you was tested for STI’s are fair game. Many STI’s are curable or treatable. If either you or your partner has an STI that is curable, you both need to start treatment to avoid becoming re-infected. It is important to be completely honest in these conversations.
Vaccinate
The risk of contracting some STI’s can be reduced through vaccination. Talk to your doctor or a professional at a sexual health clinic to learn more.
Know Your Status
Know your status. Some STI’s don't show symptoms. Regular testing is critical to staying on top of your health and helping prevent the spread of STI’s After testing, always ask for a copy of your test results so you are sure of your status.
For Further Help, Support or Advice
In the case that something has happened, immediately call 911. Emergency situations include a recent threat of violence or sexual violence, recent act of violence or sexual violence or if your health or someone else’s is in danger.
If something has happened and you’re in need of help, support or advice pertaining to physical or sexual assault, please call the below 24hr hotlines.
Rape, Abuse and Incest National Hotline
1-800-656-HOPE I www.rainn.org
Planned Parenthood
1-800-230-7526 I www.plannedparenthood.org
National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or 1-800-787-3224 I www.thehotline.org
Additionally, if you are aware on anyone who violates our terms of use please report them
here.
Match.com is responsible for more dates, relationships and marriages than any other online dating site. As part of the Match service, we have an extensive fraud prevention team that works diligently to identify and investigate any suspicious activity. Many free sites don't provide this service.
Match.com has partnered with the National Cyber Security Alliance and joined the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. campaign to promote online safety and cyber-security awareness. Taking the steps to protect yourself while participating in the Match.com community will help create a more positive experience for you and contribute to a better online environment for everyone.
There are certain steps that every person should follow while dating — both online and offline. We ask you to take a few minutes to read these tips and require that you follow them.
Online Safety Tips
Protect your finances
Ignore any request to send money, especially overseas or by wire transfer, and report it to us immediately – even if the person claims to be in an emergency. Wiring money is like sending cash: the sender has no protections against loss and it's nearly impossible to reverse the transaction or trace the money..
Never give financial information (such as you social security number, credit card number or bank information) to people you don't know or you haven't met in person..
Guard your personal and online access information
Be careful about sharing other personal information, such as your full name, phone number, email and address. You are in control of your online dating experience at all times – remain anonymous until you feel ready. Take advantage of our member-to-member technology that protects your identity until you decide to reveal it through email or IM. Also, leave any personal contact information out of your profile or username.
Use extra caution when accessing your account from a public or shared computer so that others are not able to view or record your password or other personal information. If you share your computer with others, disable the auto sign-in feature to your account and clear all saved passwords.
Note: Match.com will never send you an email asking for your username and password information. Any such communication should be reported immediately.
Be Web Wise
Be wary of communications that ask you to act immediately, offer something that sounds too good to be true, or asks for personal information. There are certain red flags to watch for that may indicate you're dealing with a scammer. Be aware of anyone who…
- Quickly asks to talk or chat on an outside email or messaging service
- Claims to be from U.S. but currently travelling, living or working abroad
- Asks you for money
- Vanishes mysteriously from the site, then reappears under a different name
- Talks about "destiny" or "fate"
- Claims to be recently widowed
- Asks for your address under the guise of sending flowers or gifts
- Makes an inordinate amount of grammar and/or spelling errors
- Sends you emails containing strange links to third-party websites
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's advice to avoid online romance scams is available here: https://onguardonline.gov/articles/0004-online-dating-scams
Be cautious and use common sense. If personal details provided by another person don't seem to add up, they behave suspiciously or pressure you for personal or financial information – block communications with that person and report them to us immediately.
Block and report suspicious users
You can block and report concerns about any suspicious user anonymously from any profile page, email or IM window.
Additionally, please report anyone who violates our terms of use. Examples of terms of use violations include:
- Asking you for money or donations
- Married people or minors using the service
- Members sending harassing or offensive emails/IMs
- Members behaving inappropriately after meeting in person
- Fraudulent registration or profiles
- Spam or solicitation, such as invitations to call 1-900 numbers or attempts to sell products or services
Your involvement will help keep the community fun and enjoyable.
Offline Safety Tips
First meetings are exciting, however, always take precautions and use the following guidelines.
Get to know the other person before meeting them offline
Use the technology on Match.com that protects your anonymity to get to know someone before disclosing personal information or meeting in person. We don't conduct criminal background checks on our users, so if you would like more information about someone, we recommend using the Internet and government resources available to everyone. This can include typing the person's name into a search engine, reviewing public information made available by government offices, or using a paid service to obtain a full background report.
Always meet in public
Meet for the first time in a populated, public location – never in a private or remote location, and never at your date's home or apartment.
Stay in a public place
It is best not to go back to your date's home or bring them back to yours on the first date. If your date pressures you, end the date and leave at once.
Tell a friend
Inform a friend or family member of your plans and when and where you're going. If you own a mobile phone, make sure you have it with you.
Stay Sober
Keep a clear mind and avoid doing anything that would impair your judgment and cause you to make a decision you could regret.
Drive yourself to and from the first meeting
Just in case things don't work out, you need to be in control of your own ride – even if you take a taxi.
Keep personal items with you at all times
You don't want to risk having personal information stolen. If you're drinking, keep your drink with you at all times so it can't be tampered with.
Long Distance Meetings
Long distance meetings pose special safety concerns to take into account. Keep these tips in mind.
- Stay in a hotel. Check into your own room and avoid staying in the other person's home. If you can't afford a hotel, you shouldn't go.
- Use a taxi or rental car to get to and from the airport. Securing your own ride is important. Even if the person you're meeting volunteers to pick you up from the airport, do not get into a personal vehicle with someone you've never met.
- Keep your hotel location confidential. The person you're meeting should respect your privacy until you know each other.
- Remember to keep your family and friends posted. Tell someone who you are meeting, where you are going and when you will return.
About The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA)
The National Cyber Security Alliance is a non-profit organization. Through collaboration with the government,
corporate, non-profit and academic sectors, the mission of the NCSA is to empower a digital citizenry to use
the Internet securely and safely protecting themselves and the technology they use and the digital assets we
all share. NCSA works to create a culture of cyber security and safety through education and awareness activities.
NCSA board members include: ADP, AT&T, Bank of America, EMC Corporation, ESET, Facebook, Google, Intel,
McAfee, Microsoft, PayPal, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Symantec, Trend Micro, Verizon and Visa.
About STOP. THINK. CONNECT.
The campaign was developed by the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Messaging Convention, a public-private partnership established
in 2009 and led by The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) and National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) to develop and
support a national cyber-security awareness campaign. In October 2010 the White House, U.S. Department of Homeland
Security and Messaging Convention launched the campaign. The Department of Homeland Security provides the Federal
Government's leadership for the campaign. Industry, government, non-profits and education institutions participate
in STOP. THINK. CONNECT.
STOP. THINK. CONNECT.™ is a trademark of the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Messaging Convention, Inc. The logos and artwork connected with the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. trademark are copyrighted, 2010-2011. All Rights Reserved. The trademark and logo may only be used in accordance with the license provided at www.stopthinkconnect.org/license