EDITORS NOTE: I am somewhat hesitant about exposing the following information. I added this page to illustrate the importance of not providing too much information about yourself; whether it's a personals ad or even a home page of your own. I am hesitant on providing this information for fear of it falling into the hands of the very "bad people" I hope to protect you from. My intent is to help you become aware of the dangers.


In most cases of meeting people through personals or your home page, you will be spending time getting to know one-another by e-mail, then phone calls, and then you actually meet.

This is all normal. I've read some ads where the person wants to meet first at a restaurant to make sure physical appearence is in order before investing the time of getting to know eachother. However, most people who run ads are a little more cautious, preferring to have the time to ask key questions to reveal information on the characteristics of ones personality traits.

I understand both sides to this. The number one caution in whatever you do is not to divulge too much information. CLICK ON RED TEXT FOR EXPLANTIONS

1. Don't reveal your full name.

2. Don't reveal your location.

3. Don't reveal the name of the business you work for or it's location.

4. Don't reveal specifics of dates/ places you frequent or type and color of the car you drive..

5.Don't reveal your home or work phone number.

Explanations

1. Revealing your full name can be disastrous. The most common mistake is revealing your name in your e-mail address (ie. SueSmith@...). Other common mistakes are by users in groups that list their full name in their personal profile. There are white pages look-ups all over the net. You're probably listed in one. If not, they can still dial information on the phone and probably get your phone number. For the same reasons, it is best to steer the conversations away from determining if they know somebody you know. A sample of one of the many look-ups can be found if you Click Here. Try your name and see what comes up.

2. Revealing the location of where you live is dangerous because there is no reason for them to know this unless you're inviting them over. When attempting to reveal your location it is best to keep things general (ie. 5 minutes from the McDonald's on 15th street).

3. Revealing where you work can put you in jeopardy should this person decide to surprise you when you walk out to your car. If you're a secretary for "Boeing International" just say you're a secretary for a corporate headquarters. If your home page is advertising your business you should limit the photos to the business. Your personal appearance is not a good business strategy on the net.

4. Revealing specifics of where and when you're going somewhere can also put you your safety in jeopardy. Even if they haven't seen your picture, if they know what kind and color of car you drive, they will know who you are.

5. Revealing your number, probably one of the hardest items to avoid, as harmless as it sounds, can be the worst thing you can do if you're still thinking about whether or not you want to actually meet this person.

How? Well, click on the following sample address, enter your phone number, and see if your name and address comes up. If it does, you'll see options for sending flowers, businesses nearby, etc..., but the one to look at is the option for creating a map.
Click Here to view.

This is just a sample of the many reverse phone number look-ups available on the net. If you think you're unlisted phone number protects you, think again. I have three friends whose unlisted numbers come up in this directory. I don't know exactly how these sites obtain their information, but it seems they're updated on a daily basis. Hmmm.. Maybe you should think twice the next time you give your number to someone you just met at the bars?

Hey! I know as well as anyone else does that the last thing we want to do is to invest our precious time and wind up meeting a toad. What better tool than the use of a picture?

Hold on, now. As great of a tool as it is, I have reservations on this as well as any other personal information you share on the net. The internet is a powerful tool, you must know this up-front. Should your picture fall into the wrong hands, you're image can be manipulated into anything imaginable. Examples of what can be done can be found if you Click Here

This is just an example of products available and how they work. They're great tools for touching up your personal pics.

What do you think a person would do with your photo? It could wind up being used to advertise a product, but it will most likely be manipulated into pornography. Whether it's an image in your ad, e-mail, or even a home page it can be abstracted and processed in whole or in part.

I know, we're all proud of our children and want to share their photo's with the world, but you better think again. This is especially true if your homepage lists your full name and location (see above). Child pornography and pornography in general are the number one internet crimes. Here are the current statistics as reported on the Web Police home page.

It has been pointed out to me by some of the fans to my page, here, that you can watermark your pics. Well, that's great, you'll be able to prove the image is yours, but that still doesn't prevent the "bad guys" from using it.

People steeling graphics from other various web sites is an all too common occurrence. There are ways to password protect your files, but very few people do it.

  

Suggestions

1. ALTERNATE E-MAIL ADDRESS: Whether it's your home page or an ad, if you're in the public view, you're going to get public responses. Having an alternate e-mail address keeps your regular e-mail from over-loading. Plus, should you choose to stop your ad or home page, you will be able to easily stop the additional responses by shutting down the alternate address.

2. MEET AT A PUBLIC FACILITY: A restaurant near city hall is best (LOL). Seriously, though. Make your meeting spot a place where there will be plenty of people around if you need help (but not so noisy that you can't hear eachother speak). The local park may sound romantic, but yields little if any protection.

3. TELL YOUR FRIENDS: Whether you're meeting somebody from a personals ad or selling something to a stranger on your home page, tell people what you're doing, when you're doing it, and where it's taking place.

4. BRING A FRIEND: Two heads are better than one. okay, so it might make a first date a little uncomfortable. Still, you have to do what you have to do. As an option, you can always tell your friend to leave once it's established the person you're meeting is "okay."

5. BRING A PHONE: If you don't have one, borrow one! Keep it in a place that it can't be wrestled from you, but make sure it's easily available. Of course, know what number to dial for emergencies.

6. USE SEPERATE CARS: Remember, you're meeting a stranger. If things aren't right, you need a way to escape.

7. DRESS IN LAYERS: Ladies, if you get in "that" situation, every extra second of time you get is another opportunity to get away.

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