"You have to just remain aware that these incidents can happen anywhere. It doesn't matter how safe of a town, how small or how big. We just have to always remember that these things can happen." 

Especially in a world so 7dependent on 8virtual connections. 

"The dating apps, there's the danger piece, a lot of the 9phishing scams, the money piece. But the kind of cons to it in general is just that it's become really 10dehumanized. You see a picture of someone and you sort of think you have this connection. But the thing we hear so often from the people that we work with is that they 11get ghosted a lot. They don't feel like a human." 

Alternative dating services like Micropolitan Matchmakers have been growing in popularity. 

"We're really working to bring the humanity back to dating. Part of it is the safety piece. We 12vet all of the matches with our 13one-to-onematchmaking clients. But even with the folks who don't want to do matchmaking and just want to come to events, they're meeting people in person. They're having real conversations." 

If screening potential 14suitors through a service isn't for you, safety should stay top of mind.