When you’re browsing through love profiles online, you might be blinded by the love. You might find that all of your potential love interests seem to be into you, so you’re willing to do anything – even catch and pass on a dangerous love bug.

A computer virus.

Just like other more intimate moments, you need to make sure you’re protecting yourself and others from viruses that plague the online dating world. Even if you’re certain your computer is clean, another person’s computer may not.

And not everyone is exactly what they seem to be.

First of all, never, ever click on any links in emails from others you don’t really know. These can be routes into your computer for phishing attacks and hackers. Yes, this means you even need to avoid those cute-sy e-cards that everyone is sending. They can be virus-toting time bombs.

It’s also a good idea to avoid giving out your personal information to anyone – especially password information. While this should be common sense, you need to realize that hackers know how vulnerable you might be as a struggling single.

But you need to make sure they don’t get what they want – your money and your data.

To further protect yourself, make sure your email address for your online dating account isn’t your ‘real’ email address. Sign up for a free account with Hotmail, for example, to keep your life and your dating separate. This will only hinder cyber attacks more.

You can be safe and clean from this modern love bug. And don’t say we didn’t warn you!

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Even though you might be single now, that doesn’t mean you have to be alone in your hunt for someone to date. The truth is that you need a sort of wingman (or wing-woman) to help you navigate the online dating scene, while you also need a dating buddy to commiserate with as you jump into the dating pool.

There are a few things you should look for in your dating buddy:

• Someone who is looking for love too
• Someone who has been successful on the site you’re using
• Someone who is positive
• Someone who will motivate you to take chances

You want someone to make sure you are buddy-ing up with someone who will push you to try things that you normally wouldn’t. That is, if you get rejected on the site by someone, your buddy is the one that tells you to try again anyway – not to give up.

You also want someone who is going to be completely honest with you when you need that dose of reality. If your profile needs work or you simply need to take more chances winking at people or emailing those that you like, your buddy should be telling you so.

Together, you just might find love and then you won’t need a dating buddy anymore – but you can then start being each other’s relationship buddy.

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Still not seeing anyone special? You need more strategies…

Without further ado, here are some tips to get some responses for your profile on that online dating site.

Get advice from someone else – Before you post your first profile, have your best friend read it…and then ask them to be brutal about what works and what doesn’t.

Focus on creating contact with someone on a regular basis – Don’t just sit around and wait for people to contact you, try to make contact at least once a week. Email someone or IM someone to get used to talking to others. Soon enough, you’ll be meeting up with all the right ones.

Be honest with those you meet virtually and in person – You want to be make sure you are telling the truth so that you’re actually making a connection with the people who would be the right fit for you.

But…don’t tell everything – Releasing all of your personal history, your divorce, your children, your lack of child support, etc. Until you know that you really like the person, total disclosure just isn’t necessary.

Create time in your life for love – You can’t start dating unless you have time in your schedule to date. You need to start making room for love…before you start adding dates into your day planner.

Good luck!

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