Quinn

Dating safely

Dating should be an exciting and safe experience. When Quinn suggest potential dates for you, all efforts are taken to ensure the creeps and fraudsters are filtered out and blocked.

We are fully committed to providing you with a secure environment to meet people and we treat any suspicion of fraudulent or unacceptable behaviour very seriously. We recommend that you apply the same rules and common sense to meeting people online, as meeting people offline. Trust your instincts.

For your own protection, please ensure you:

• Use your common sense
• Keep your personal details personal
• Never date in your home (or anyone else's) and do not accept a lift. Plan your date in a public place and tell people where you are going and with whom - perhaps even ask your mutual friend along to the first date. Watch your drink and don’t drink too much!

If at any stage you become concerned about another user of this site behaving inappropriately, strangely or rudely, you can confidentially report that person by sending details to [email protected].

We have prepared some guidelines below to assist on your exciting and safe dating journey:

Meet only when YOU are ready. Remember that YOU are in control. You are never obliged to meet anyone so don't feel pressured, regardless of how much communication you've had online.

Because it is your friend that will have suggested a potential date, you should speak with your friend to find out more information about the potential date. If you are interested in meeting the person they have suggested, you should speak to your friend about the most appropriate introduction method - whether email, Facebook or facilitating a face to face meeting.

If you are introduced to the date online, then ask questions via email, Facebook or WhatsApp and take all the time you need to become comfortable with someone before agreeing to meet. Why not even actually have a phone chat before you meet. We suggest you do not give out your home or work phone number. Instead, stick to mobile numbers.

Do not continue correspondence if you suspect that the person:

• Is being dishonest with you
• Continually ignores your questions
• Seems to have different relationship intentions to you
• Is inconsistent with their information
• Makes you feel uneasy in any way

Remember that butterflies are fine; But a gut feeling that something is wrong is not.

Who knows how your first face-to-face date is actually going to go and whether there will be chemistry! Approach with an open mind and an open heart - but with caution and common sense.

It is a great idea to pre-plan an excuse of having to be somewhere else after your date. This gives you the option to politely excuse yourself and leave the date if anything starts to make you feel uncomfortable. Feeling safe is much more important than someone's opinion of you.

Some guidelines for your meeting:

• Arrange your own transport to and from your first date and don’t accept a lift.
• Tell a trusted friend, ideally your mutual friend, about the date, including the date’s name and number, where you are going and how long you expect to be. Call them during the date and when you have arrived back home alone safely.
• Take a mobile phone with you (fully charged and with credit)
• Meet in a public place that you know. Don't let yourself be anywhere where there is no-one to call on - including taking a romantic walk alone with the date.
• Stay in control and trust your instincts. If you are asked to do something you don't want to do say no and be forceful with your statement.
• Keep an eye on your drink and don’t drink too much alcohol.
• Don't go home with your date or invite them back to your place. Don't get worried about thinking that this is old fashioned - it’s not. It's classy and just good common sense.

Many other online dating sites that facilitate random people meeting each other can be subject to scammers. Scamming occurs when someone pretends to be a legitimate user of the website, builds rapport with you online, then attempts to persuade you to send them money, obtain personal or financial information about you, or redirect you to another website which may require payment or download unsafe software onto your computer.

Fortunately Quinn acts as somewhat of a safeguard against because of Quinn’s intelligent matching systems.

Nonetheless, it is possible that someone introduced to you could act like a scammer. In this unlikely occurrence, we want you to know what to look out for and what to do.

It is essential that you:

• Never send money to anyone you meet online, no matter how long you've been chatting with them
• Don't share your banking or credit card details with anyone you meet online
• If someone asks you for money, do not reply and report them to us by email at [email protected]

Behaviours to watch out for:

• Declarations of love within a matter of weeks (or even days) could indeed be too good to be true. Use your best judgement and take all common sense approaches to assess the person's intentions or legitimacy
• Requests for money. Whether it is to help with financial difficulty, to pay for a visa, an airfare, to help a sick relative... be very wary.
• Someone offers money to you... you won the lottery or a cash prize and they request your account details?! These are always scams - please tell us immediately.
• Evasive behaviour. Watch out if people are vague in their communication about their interests, or what they want in a partner, if they do not answer your questions or their responses are formulaic, nonsensical or repetitive.