Is it safe to use Plenty of Fish? Does this concern pops-up in your mind every time you login into your Plenty of Fish account?
There is no doubt online dating sites like Plenty of Fish have provided singletons with a better alternative to finding a perfect match for themselves.
However, online privacy and user security are two of the greatest concerns of all time,
And with users having zero knowledge of who exactly that person is, it becomes much easier for scammers to scam people.
So, the question is, “is Plenty of Fish a safe option, or is it just a sham?”
Read more to find out!
Contents
Key Takeaways:
- Though online dating is not 100% safe, Plenty of Fish ensures to give its users a safe dating experience.
- Collaboration with Noonlight, as well as the implementation of other security features like; photo verification, face filter ban, live video streaming, and regular deep account scan, helps maintain user safety.
- Always follow best online safety practices like; avoiding sharing your personal or financial information, avoiding sending money to strangers, avoiding migrating to other third-party messaging platforms, reporting suspicious activity, and updating your friends & family about your current online dates and whereabouts.
Is it safe to use Plenty of Fish?
Yes, Plenty of Fish is safe to use as the folks working at POF have implemented many features that focus especially on user security. Moreover, they are constantly improving their bots are thriving to analyze each and every account on the site and terminate the bogus ones.
But which are those security features that Plenty of Fish has implemented?
Read next to find out!
Security features implemented by Plenty of Fish:
Here is a list of security features that are implemented by Plenty of Fish to enhance user security.
Collaboration with Noonlight:
Noonlight is one of the most used user security apps, that acts as a virtual bodyguard.
And the good news, Plenty of Fish and many other dating apps have started collaborating with this app for user safety purposes.
Now, if we go through its features, then it can share the details of the upcoming dates, which include the time, date, name of the person, and location.
It can also silently place an SOS call directly to the authorities.
Photo verification:
Photo verification is the second thing that Plenty of Fish does to increase the security of its users.
Yes, one of the most common types of scams that users perform is uploading fake photos on their Plenty of Fish profile to fake their identity.
Now, this act of faking is done to scam other users.
Therefore, to stop this nuisance, Plenty of Fish started a regular photo verification process,
Where every photo is scanned for its legitimacy, and if the photo is found to be fake,
Then the profile itself gets deleted from the platform.
Face filter ban:
After Snapchat introduced AI-based face filters on its app, everyone started to use them extensively.
Not just that, many POF users started posting their photos with these filters.
But, as it nullifies the authenticity of one’s face, it clearly fails the Community Guidelines,
And therefore, Plenty of Fish implemented a face filter ban to remove such accounts in order to maintain user privacy along with authenticity.
Live video streaming:
What if you just want to cross-verify the other person before a personal meet-up?
Well, now you can with Plenty of Fish’s live video streaming feature,
Which allows you to video chat with another person to make sure that the person who is asking you out is who he/she is claiming to be.
Regular deep account scans:
Scammers and intentional offenders are the ones who use dating sites like Plenty of Fish more.
So, in order to maintain a secure environment on the site,
Plenty of Fish does regular deep account scans and removes any unwanted or scammy accounts from the site.
What are the best practices one should follow to stay safe while dating online?
After discussing how Plenty of Fish has improved its security feature for its users, it can be clearly said that a user can trust the platform.
Although, it does not change the fact that online dating has its own set of problems, along with no 100% guarantee that the person you are meeting is a real one.
Now, if we take stats released by Pew Research into consideration, then around 60% of the female daters (18 to 36 years of age) were continuously contacted by those users who got rejected,
While 57% of them received private explicit images or messages they didn’t ask for.
However, there is no need to panic and stop using such sites after reading these numbers.
All you need to do is follow these simple yet effective security practices, and you are good to go.
Avoid sharing your personal or financial information.
The first thing that should be kept in mind while dating online is never ever share your personal & financial information.
Like; house address, phone number, office address, children’s name, social media handles, and bank account details with strangers as they might use it against your will.
Never send money to anyone.
The general rule of thumb that has been taught to us by our elders is to never borrow or send money to strangers,
And the same thing applies here as well.
So, if a person asks for some money, and usually they do by faking an emergency,
Never send them that because wiring money is similar to handling out someone’s cash which is untraceable.
Don’t migrate to other third-party apps.
Usually, many Intentional offenders or scammers try to migrate conversations to third-party messenger or text messaging apps.
By doing so, they can get past the message filters that are applied on most dating websites, resulting in their sweet escape.
So, it is better to stay wherever you are and let the Plenty of Fish service folks do the needful.
Report all suspicious and offensive behavior.
If you encounter or have encountered any type of suspicious or offensive behavior
Like; For bullying, racism, requests for donations, fraud, or spamming, then all you need to do is report that to the respective apps.
Keep your friends and family members updated about your whereabouts.
Lastly, if by chance you decide to meet a stranger from the dating site in person,
Then always remember to update your friends or family members with all the information, along with your current location,
Because you never know how things will take a sharp U-turn.
Final Remarks on “Is it safe to use Plenty of Fish?”
With the passing years, Plenty of Fish has become more and more advance in terms of user security, so there should not be much noise regarding the safety of the app.
However, it is always better to keep yourself well informed about the dos and don’ts of online dating so that you can remain a step ahead of the spammers or crooks.