Last Revised on May 22nd, 2014
Shenpire Group LLC Meeting Online and Offline Safety Tips
CoupleHang wants to help you make new friendships. Your personal safety should be your top priority and you should always use caution and your best judgment when communicating with or meeting new people, both online and offline. Below are some tips that can help you have a fun and safe experience using CoupleHang.
SHARING INFORMATION
There is no substitute for acting with caution when communicating with any stranger who wants to meet you. When communicating with other users, you should:
- Always be cautious when deciding whether to share personal information that could reveal your identity.
- Never include your last name, e-mail address, home address, phone number, place of work, or any other identifying information on your profile or initial emails.
- Avoid sharing your real name, email address, place of work, address, phone number or other identifying information while you are emailing or chatting until you are completely comfortable.
- Stop communicating with anyone who attempts to pressure you into providing your personal or financial information or in any way attempts to trick you into providing it.
- Use an anonymous third-party email address for your dating purposes. Although your communications on CoupleHang, whether through messaging or forums, are designed to help protect your identity until you choose to reveal it, hackers can breach nearly any technology and you should still use extra caution in your communications.
- Trust your instincts and immediately stop communicating with anyone who makes you feel uncomfortable or apprehensive.
- Remember that anyone who is able to commit identity theft can also falsify a dating profile.
DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH
COUPLEHANG DOES NOT ROUTINELY SCREEN ITS USERS, INQUIRE INTO THE BACKGROUND OF OUR USERS, ATTEMPT TO VERIFY INFORMATION PROVIDED BY OUR USERS OR CONDUCT CRIMINAL SCREENINGS OF OUR USERS. We believe that providing background checks would lead to a false sense of security since databases of criminal convictions may not be up to date, not all convictions appear in background screenings and criminals may circumvent even the most sophisticated background screenings.
We recommend that you conduct your own research before sharing any personal information with, or meeting, another person. You can do this by searching for the person’s name via an Internet search engine, contacting your local municipalities to obtain public information or using a paid service to obtain a full background report. It is important to use common sense and caution with every person you communicate with using our services. If any information a person provides you doesn’t make sense, conflicts with other information that was provided or makes you apprehensive, you should end the communication.
MEETING IN PERSON
If you are meeting someone for the first time, you should always take precautions such as the following:
- Always meet in a public place at a time when many people are around.
- Use your own transportation to arrive at the meeting. Never have the person pick you up from your home or office.
- Tell a friend or family member where you are going and when you will return and set up a predetermined time to check in with them.
- Bring a cell phone with you so you can immediately contact emergency services or a friend for help if necessary.
- Stick to nonalcoholic drinks.
- Don’t leave your personal belongings (mobile phones, purses, wallets) unattended.
- Never worry or feel embarrassed about your behavior. Your safety is far more important than the other person’s opinion of you.
AVOIDING SCAMMERS
We encourage you to help us fight scammers and inappropriate profiles. If you suspect a user is trying to scam you, we encourage you to stop the communication and report them by clicking on the “Report this profile” link on their profile. Always remember to use your head as well as your heart. Most scams involve one or more of the following:
- A user contacts you from somewhere far away, often in another country.
- Scammers often refuse to meet face-to-face or talk on the phone. Instead, they would like to send you SMS messages, use your personal email or meet you on a video chat website (other than CoupleHang).
- A user directs you to a pornographic site.
- A user asks you for money (this is often in the context of an urgent need such as travel back to their home country, hospital bills, medication, obtaining official documents such as a visa or as a short term loan to recover from a financial setback.)
- A user tries to sell products or services online or offers you a job opportunity.
- A user claims love for you right away.
We also encourage you to report any profiles that contain obscene, pornographic, abusive, violent or otherwise offensive photos or content. By reporting such violations, you not only protect yourself but also help other CoupleHang users. Simply go to the violator’s profile and click on “Report this profile” link.