ORIGINAL WRITE-UP CAN BE FOUND ON THV11.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Valentine’s Day is tomorrow which means that a lot of people have been looking for love— or at least someone to spend the day with.
Though experts said that you want to be careful, especially if you’re using a dating app in hopes of finding that special someone.
“They can be good. But yeah, I mean, you definitely have to be safe, for sure,” dating app user, Nate Hopson said.
Hopson shared that he has seen his share of untrustworthy people while on dating apps.
“You can kind of tell if something doesn’t seem right,” Hopson added.
That’s why said that he pays close attention to their responses and makes sure that they’re a real person before making the decision to meet up.
“One of the ways that I do is just, you know, try to follow them on some other social media like Instagram or Facebook,” he described.
He also sets a virtual date before meeting face-to-face.
“You can, you know, just kind of make sure that they’re all the intentions are good. And everyone’s you know, being safe,” he said.
“Online safety and security today, is scarier than ever,” Sandra Leiterman with UA Little Rock Cyber Security said.
Leiterman explained that it’s easy to become a target on dating apps and social media in general.
“With the amount of social engineering that happens, the fake profiles, the people pretending to be someone they’re not. It’s really tough to maneuver. Who’s, who’s who, and who you can trust,” Leiterman said.
That’s why she recommends using the acronym: A-S-K-K.
“A is what can the company (that’s providing the app) can they access about me? If I use this app? Who will they share it with, is the S. And then the K’s are what will be known about me if I use this app. But in today’s age, we also have to know what can be known about me if this app is hacked,” she said.
Leiterman said that in addition to controlling your privacy settings, you shouldn’t share your location.
“I would think twice about sharing my real name. And things like phone numbers, email addresses, none of that should be out there publicly,” she explained.
She also said some red flags to look out for, are people who don’t want to meet in person or that are asking for money.
