Dating sites can be haven for sex pests, say cops

The capital's coppers are warning lonely hearts to think about their safety when signing up to online dating sites because they can be a haven for sex offenders. “Whilst the majority of clients are unlikely to have ulterior or dubious motives for using dating sites, it could still be something of a refuge for potential sex …

[GeorgeTuk]

Ban them...ban them all!

Just thinking I can save The Daily Mail the need to write an article on this.

Just ban it!

[Anonymous Coward]

What a load of tosh.

It's taken this long for the Police to realise that unsavory types might use dating websites? This will come as an incredible shock to anyone who's ever used one.

Next week "police discover locking doors reduces crime".

[David Evans]

And in other news

Pope found shitting in the woods.

[Danny 14]

aye

but with or without the nazi uniform on?

[DPWDC]

State the obvious...

Walking down dark alleys is also unsafe.

Or a better comparison, pubs sometimes have alcoholics in them.

Anyway I don't care, somes guy from Nigeria just emailed me saying he has a load of dosh for me.

[Anonymous Coward]

Meanwhile....

...large ursus arctos observed defecating in the silva...

[The Flying Dutchman]

Most dating sites are scams anyway...

... and are populated mostly not with sex offenders, but with non-existing, albeit gorgeous, twentysomething ladies whose mission is to get 50-year-old overweight males to sign up for a Platinum Account, at only $39.95 a month...

[Alien Doctor 1.1]

The Jury

Perhaps the police have been watching "The Jury"* on ITV** this week - they do seem to be quite reactive after TV highlights issues.

* the better half told me about it, I've been in Oblivion again

** somehow the block on ITV has been by-passed, damn woman

[LuMan]

To be fair, though...

..the Police HAVE to issue warnings as blatantly obvious as this. It's OK for those of us with IQs higher than our waist size, but there are a LOT of folk in the wilderness who are less savvy. Just look at all those caught out by 419 scammers - they're still being duped now. And lonely folk will still sign up to getlovedup.com (or whatever) and be totally ignorant of the fact that some people on the site are after something other than companionship. Sadly, I reckon we'll see more of these stories in future.

[Anonymous Coward]

To be fair

I agree, however these warnings wont help the vulnerable.

Yes, people are still falling for 419 scams, despite them being intermittently covered by TV, Radio and paper headlines for about the last decade.

Stating the obvious doesnt help the terminally stupid, the desperate or the greedy.

The only reason the police do things like this is so that *after the fact* they can turn round and say "told you so."

[gaz 7]

Thanks

Thanks for that great piece of advice.

That's why you are all police officers, and we are not, as you can spot the subtle possibilities such as this.

Can we have more helpful tips please.

[sml156]

potential sex offenders

I find that hard to believe next thing you are going to say is xaviera hollander was a hooker just because she worked at penthouse magazine

[LarsG]

SO WHATS NEW?

its obvious isn't it.

[whbjr]

Only on "dating sites"?

So, aah... What're you wearing?

[Armando 123]

"Some people online might not be who they say they are"

And a politician said it, and they are always who they claim to be.

[Now, where did I put that sarcasm icon?]

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought half the people on dating sites were law enforcement of some kind

usually pretending to be "curious" teens.

At least the ones offering their "services" in uniform are honest and genuine. Well, genuine at least until Internal Affairs (please excuse the irony) find out about it.

Strange isn't it, being honest and saying you are a police officer is sackable. Being deceitful is career-advancing.

Joke alert marker as I really need to be AC on this.

[Is it me?]

Mind you

Apparently, so my female friends tell me, some men like to post pictures of their friendly weapon, as a come on, on dating sites. Which says a lot about the sites picture vetting process.

Reputable sites have a whole load of advice on how to protect yourself from harassment, and make it clear that they do police it.

Safest thing to do is to make sure you use a disposable SIM and eMail address for first contact outside the sites themselves.