Help
Real people in Real time
Meet the real person behind the Profile
From the comfort and safety of your own home
Partner4Real has a serious and continued focus in providing a safe and pleasant platform for our members to interact. Our goal is to enable members to create extended and meaningful relationships in a secure and safe environment. While we can only provide information and guidance, your own decisions and actions will determine the best form of security. Similar to meeting people in the offline world, online dating will require you to make sound judgement calls, trust your instincts anduse common sense.
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Please refer to the safety tips below:
> Protect your Identity
> Blocking other Members
> Stay Communicating on the Partner4Real Network
> Be Patient
> Protect your Financial Information
> Don't be afraid to do a little Digging
> Scams and People Asking for Money
> Read the Signs
> Photos are Important, so make the Request
> From Chat to Voice
> Only Meet when YOU are Ready
> Meet at a Safe Location
Protecting Your Identity
Information you should consider sensitive are, personal or work email addresses, your last name, your home or work address and home or work phone numbers.
In the offline world you would not want a stranger to have access to your personal information; therefore, we recommend that you do not list personal contact information in your profile or in emails.
As an added safety precaution, you may want to consider setting up a 3rd party email address to use specifically for dating purposes and forward your Partner4Real emails to this location and avoid your personal email box.
Blocking Other Members
Abusive members is a ‘BIG’ deal for us, therefore, we recommend members BLOCK other members who behave in an abusive manner and immediately report this behaviour to Partner4Real. Examples of abuse are as follows:
- > Registration of Fraudulent Profiles
- > Spam or Solicitation for funds or donations
- > Advertising or solicitation for goods & services
- > Members who are married and state they are single
- > Minors using the service
- > Behaving inappropriately after meeting face to face
- > Infringement of copyright
- > Sending harassing or offensive emails & IMs
- > Any other violation of Partner4Real’s terms of use
Procedure for blocking other members is available from any 'Member Profile' page, we encourage members to use this feature.
Stay Communicating on the Partner4Real Network
Therefore, you should be suspicious and asked yourself the question, why someone would want to move you to a third party chat line.
Be Patient
It is true online dating can speed up the dating process, however, this does not justify throwing away your inhibitions and better judgement, be patient and tread cautiously, remember, all good things comes to those who wait.
We all want to be swept off our feet and find true love, unfortunately, relationships are seldom created this way and similar to the offline world, expect to be told lies, have your ego kicked and experience some pain, trust and respect have to be earned.
If someone appears too good to be true, then they probably are. Look out for the basic signals, if someone’s behaviour makes you feel uncomfortable or strange, then take the time to drill deeper and understand more about the person before sharing personal details and engaging face to face.
Protect Your Financial Information
We encourage members to ignore requests from third parties trying to publish any material, but not limited to any solicitation for funds, advertising or solicitation for goods or services. Our terms of use strictly prohibit the use of this service for the purpose of solicitation.
Don't Be Afraid To Do a Little Digging
Acquiring accurate details about another member is extremely important; therefore we encourage members to ask lots of questions prior to offering their own personal contact details or meeting offline.
Nobody likes to be interrogated; therefore diplomacy is always a good approach, take it gradually in a light hearted manner and try to find out what makes the member tick, without asking too many direct questions.
Some people can be very private and object to personal questions; however, it is important members share their personal information to provide you with some peace of mind before taking the relationship to the next level. Also important you share the information received with a friend or family member before meeting offline.
Scams and People Asking For Money
If a member requests money on Partner4Real it’s a scam and you should report it ‘here’ along with any other scam/spam.
Any of the following behaviours should raise concerns that the person you are interacting with is a scammer:
• they ask you to send them money or provide your personal or financial details
• they ask you to transfer money via a wire transfer service
• they quickly profess strong feelings or love for you
• they are vague about their interests, or what they want in a partner
• they do not answer your questions or their responses are formulaic, nonsensical or repetitive
• they claim to be stationed in or travel frequently to Africa or elsewhere overseas
• they claim to be of mixed African and US, Australian, European or Canadian
descent and travel to meet relatives in Africa
• their profile, or their communications with you display poor spelling or grammar
If you are contacted by other members via links to a ‘pay-to-view’ site, which includes any instructions regarding how to call 1800 & 1-900 numbers etc., then please advise Partner4Real immediately.
Please report any invitations to join other dating/singles sites, including any emails about modelling opportunities or any communication offering merchandise or services.
Read The Signs
People who are only available at strange hours or when on the phone have to go all of a sudden, may be keeping a secret, these maybe signs they are not as single as they’d want you to believe.
People who show displays of anger or frustration should be approached with caution or perhaps trust your gut instincts and stay away as these maybe signs of the person’s character.
Other signs to look out for is when people refuse to answer simple and reasonable questions. Do not permit them deferring to answer specific questions until they you meet offline, insist they answer all questions that are important to you, prior to a face to face meeting.
Also be aware of people who contradict themselves with information they have provided previously via chat or in emails, these are all negative signs that should concern you and will help you avoid awkward and difficult situations later.
Photos Are Important, So Make The Request
People who are reluctant to provide you with a photo probably have something to hide, therefore you should not feel that you are being unreasonable when making this request.
Photos can reveal a lot about a person and will either confirm or contradict information they have already provided.
Multiple photos will help you understand more about a person’s character and sense of humour, photos help build a more accurate picture of the person’s lifestyle.
Insist that the member take the time to provide and do not except excuses, producing a photo these days has become much easier since the introduction of cameras on mobile phones.
From Chat To Voice
After chatting and emailing each other for maybe days or weeks, there is nothing better than being able to hear that person’s voice.
Hearing the human voice can reveal so much about a person and help you analyse your thoughts and feelings towards that person in a positive or negative manner.
Only make this move when you are completely comfortable and we suggest you make the initial call using blocking techniques to avoid providing your phone number.
We do not recommend giving your phone number to a stranger and when you do decide to offer this information we suggest a mobile and not a home or work number.
Only Meet When YOU Are Ready
If the signs are positive and you’re getting the right vibs from previous chats and phone conversations, then the next logical step is to meet face to face.
Ensure you are ready to take this step and do not allow yourself to feel pressured by the other party.
Remember you are never obligated to meet anyone and it should always be on your terms, if you feel uncomfortable and the circumstances are not correct, then feel free walk away.
Meet At a Safe Location
Meeting with a potential new partner can be very exciting and also quite stressful. To help relax and enjoy the experience it is a good idea to meet in a place where you feel comfortable and safe.
We suggest you make your own way to the venue and do not have your new date pick you up or drop you off at home until you feel completely secure and safe.
Agree to meet in a populated or public place, never meet in a private home or a remote location.
We suggest you tell a friend or family member about your meeting, provide them with location details and request they call you at an agreed time.
Advise your date that you have shared the meeting details with a friend or family member.
Stay sober and don’t leave personal belongings unattended, especially your drink, don’t take the risk of having a foreign substance added without your knowledge.
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The thrill of dating new people and finding that special person can stimulate the mind and body like nothing else, don’t permit that small minority of members who want to scam, cheat and lie online, prevent you from having this wonderful experience. Like all life’s experiences, there will always be an element of risk, however, it’s important you stay positive and remember the great majority of online members are genuine, and have the same aspirations and desires as those people offline and want an honest and sincere relationship.
