Real-Life Incidents That Show The Dangers Of Online Dating that Women Face

The dangers of online dating are widely discussed and debated, especially in the context of women. That’s hardly surprising, given that safety concerns are always associated with anything and everything women do. “Is it safe?” becomes the primary question whether spoken or unspoken. But I think it is a stupid question. No place, online or off, is safe or unsafe by itself.

Your own home can become unsafe if you are molested by a family member. It is the people that make places unsafe. So when it comes to online dating it’s the people that pose the biggest threat for single women.

The dangers of online dating are endless and you really don’t know if the person you are talking to is genuine or a hound on the prowl. One of the negative effects of online dating that single women face is that there is no way you can be a hundred percent sure of someone’s credibility unless you meet and get to know them. Only lived experiences can tell you the real stories.

What Are The Biggest Threats Of Online Dating For Single Women?

There are many dangers of online dating. The person could be hiding their identity or giving out false information about themselves, you could be interacting with someone running fake dating profiles or you end up talking to a psychopath.

The results don’t remain limited to heartbreak only: Money has been lost, identities stolen, lives destroyed by defamation due to this.

Con artists exist in every corner of the world, not just online. It is also true that we have the law and judiciary to handle that. What we cannot protect ourselves from are things that are not considered criminal offenses like irritating someone constantly with a polite “hi” every hour.

You can’t send somebody to jail for that (neither for misspelling ‘friendship’, ‘girl’ or ‘good morning’). But these are ‘minor’ irritants that can be ignored, even though they do count as disadvantages when you think about the pros and cons of online dating.

Even so, we need to remember that these are also a violation of our consent, and thus not appropriate.

Only a few years back women only comprised around 20% of the online dating population. But since 2018, the numbers are growing especially with apps like OkCupid and Tinder.

So women are more vulnerable now and the online dating risks are far more pronounced.

The biggest problem of online dating is everything starts off innocuously. When reality hits you, it’s probably already too late. Online dating risks are evident, but it is probably the most feasible way of meeting new people. To make sure you can leverage this cutting-edge way of finding love without making yourself vulnerable, we tell you how to navigate the negative effects of online dating.

Related Reading: Tinder- 6 Types Of Men To Avoid Dating

5 Women Reveal What They Realized While Dating Online

If you are looking for something serious then online dating can be twice as disappointing. Thanks to the ambiguity of dating apps online, you can be anyone and there might not be any semblance between you and your online representation. Recognizing fake dating profiles is not that difficult but knowing how much of a real profile is true, is a big challenge.

Negative aspects of online dating are endless and you really don’t know how to safeguard against the threats. From harrowing to hilarious, the experiences these single women share about online dating is something one should read.

1. Beware of fake profiles

Aparna wanted to marry an NRI. Her last three boyfriends were from abroad, they had never met but she changed her relationship status online. She was in a proper relationship each time: They went on video call dates, met each other’s friends, exchanged gifts, and with one boyfriend, Aparna even celebrated anniversaries.

But alas! Two of them turned out to be locals giving false information about themselves. Aparna is now depending on her parents to arrange a marriage. Guess this is one of the biggest disadvantages of online dating – it’s easiest to fall for an imposter.

2. You only look at the superficial

When online dating, you know about a person before you really get to know the person. You can reject someone because of something they have posted and never get to hear their perspective of things. You might even block your Prince Charming because of too many typos.

Carol and Anthony are married for about a year now. They matched on Tinder 3 years ago. At first, Carol found it impossible to have a conversation with Anthony. He, first of all, didn’t respond to texts most of the time. When he finally did he always made too many typos and incoherent sentences that put Carol off.

She promptly unmatched him and moved on with her life until they met at a friend’s wedding and the rest was history. This is definitely one of the negative effects of online dating, but luckily for Carol and Anthony, fate brought them together in the end.

3. It could be a bigger con than a fake profile

The world is readily getting smaller and relationships are now happening across the border and crossing the oceans. And yes, they are real relationships. A relationship can be built even on a single hope. Even with complete honesty and dedicated commitment, things can go wrong.

Mita and Safi met online through a university website. Mita was an aspiring exchange student and she was put in touch with Safi, the student body president. They dated for 15 months before Mita’s applications were accepted. After all the fees were submitted, Safi disappeared and so did the university.

Romance scammers lurking around to pounce on unsuspecting people is one of the dangers of online dating that cannot be overlooked. Never give away too much information too easily. Mita not only suffered heartbreak, but also a harrowing loss of money.

4. You never know who is a stalker

Stalking is normalized by romantic movies and pulp fiction but it is not fun and games. It is very dangerous and scary if you are on the receiving end of it. When you are trying to get rid of someone but they keep popping up in every possible social networking media.

Online dating risks encapsulate encroachment of privacy and violation of consent. It is a way of showing that there is no way out. Gurpreet Kaur was a TikTok celebrity. She was a single woman in her 30s, who enjoyed the attention and faced criticism bravely.

Then, came along a guy who seemed to admire her. They talked online a couple of times. But he started stalking her and sending her disgusting messages. If she blocked him, he would make newer accounts and take new sim connections. There was no other way to get rid of him other than going to the police and getting him arrested.

5. Innocent pictures can also be misused

Random people ask for ‘nudes’ online. Then, there are random people sending you photographs of their private parts without you asking for it. Both qualify as harassment. These are things that cannot be foreseen but can haunt you for a long time.

Maria woke up to see that her chat box was flooded with pictures of a man helping himself off to her photographs. Her pictures were simple close-ups of her face that she posted as profile pics. But this disgusting person using them for sexual pleasure made her feel nauseated.

She felt used and violated. Now she uses flower images as her display picture. She was traumatized and couldn’t get the incident out of her head for months.

From being conned to stalked, women face all kinds of online dating risks. The threats and dangers of online dating remain in cyberspace but can have repercussions in real life. After reading these stories, probably you are now armed with the knowledge to navigate better.

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