Police are warning people about the dangers of internet dating after a Waikato woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a man she met on an online dating site.
A 41-year-old man has been arrested and charged with sexual assault and possessing the prescription drug Hypnoval – a sedative commonly used to treat insomnia/
If your internet paramour sounds too good to be true, police say they probably are and those who go on internet dates should exercise caution.
You bring a friend along. You go to a public place, you do it during the day but people tend to forget it because they become emotionally attached to this person through the online dating and then forget to apply common sense,” says Police National E-Crime’s Maarten Kleintjes.
In this latest incident, police say the offender and the victim had been in contact for around three months although they had not met in person.
When a meeting scheduled for Friday night fell through, the 41-year-old male allegedly went to the woman’s house and sexually assaulted her.
It is not known how the offender knew where the victim lived, but internet safety groups agree keeping that information private is paramount.
“People can give out too much information early on; so things like your home or work address are probably best not given out until way down the track of a relationship – perhaps after you have met offline,” says Lee Chisholm from Netsafe.
Netsafe say a webcam is a cheap way to guarantee the person at the other end of the line is who they say they are.
3 News