Dear DestinyBharat.com/matrimony Users,

Destinybharat.com aims to provide you with a safe & secure environment in which you search and find your life partner.

• Our support team ensures that every profile put up at DestinyBharat.com is screened for irrelevant and/or inappropriate content.
• We also have strict abuse-prevention and reporting systems for those that do get through our screening systems.

Here are some simple security tips , YOU can follow to protect your privacy.

1. Guard your privacy
Our system of anonymous contacting (expressing interest, accepting/declining), and private messaging (Communicate section) is to ensure that your identity is protected until YOU decide to reveal it.

Do
• Remember that you are in control of your online experience at all times. You can remain completely anonymous until you choose not to.

Don't
• Don't include your personal contact information like name, email address, home address, telephone numbers, place of work or any other identifying information in your initial messages.
• Don't send contact information until your instincts tell you that this is someone you can trust. It's okay to take your time.

2. Start slow – Use emails initially
Set up a separate email account for communicating. Trust your instincts and start by sharing only your email address and communicating solely via email.

Do
• Look for odd behavior or inconsistencies. Serious people will respect your space and allow you to take your time.
• Ask a friend to read the emails you receive - an unbiased observer can spot warning signs you missed.
• Stop communicating with anyone who pressures you for personal information or attempts in any way to trick you into revealing it.

Don't
• Don't use signature lines in your emails that include your phone numbers and addresses.
• Don't use your regular or official email id for communicating with a person you don't know well.
 
3. Request for a photo
A photo will give you a good idea of the person's appearance, which may prove helpful in achieving a gut feeling.

Do
• You can use the Photo upload option on DestinyBharat.com. Since we provide upload services to our members, there’s no reason someone shouldn’t be able to provide you a photo.
• In fact, it’s best to view several images of someone in various settings: casual, formal, indoor and outdoors. If all you hear are excuses about why you can't see a photo, consider that he or she has something to hide.

4. Chat on the phone
A phone call can reveal much about a person’s communication and social skills. Consider your security and do not reveal your personal phone number to a stranger.

Do
• Use a pre paid mobile phone number or use local telephone blocking techniques to prevent your phone number from appearing in Caller ID. Only furnish your phone number when you feel completely comfortable and have some background information on the other person.
• If someone gives you a phone number with a strange area code, check it out to make sure it's not a charge number before you make the call.

5. Meet when you are ready
The beauty of meeting online is that you can collect information gradually, later choosing whether to pursue the relationship in the offline world. You never are obligated to meet anyone. Go at your own pace!

Do
• Remember that you are in control when it comes to taking an online relationship offline.
• Even if you decide to arrange a meeting, you always have the right to change your mind. It’s possible that your decision to keep the relationship at the anonymous level is based on a hunch that you can’t logically explain. Trust yourself. Go with your instincts.

6. Meet in a safe place
When you choose to meet offline it is a good idea to try and include either or both of your families. But if you trust the person enough to meet alone always tell a friend or your family where you are going and when you will return.

Do
• When you decide to meet face to face with someone for the first time, choose a public place (such as a restaurant / cafe) at a time when many people are around and ensure your own transportation to and fro.
• For the first meeting it is always good not to meet the other person alone. Take a friend or relative along and ask him/her to do the same.
• In case you do decide to meet him/her alone leave the name, address and telephone number of the person you are going to meet with your friend or family member. Take a cellular phone along with you.

Don't
• Never arrange for your prospective match to pick you up or drop you at home.
• Do not go to a isolated place or a movie alone at the first meeting.

7. Watch for warning signs
Watching for warning signs and acting upon it is the surest way to avoid an uncomfortable situation.

Do
• Ask a lot of questions and watch for inconsistencies. This will help you detect liars & cons, and it will help you find out if you're compatible.
• Pay attention to displays of anger, intense frustration or attempts to pressure or control you. Acting in a resentful manner, making demeaning or disrespectful comments, or any physically inappropriate behavior are all warning signs.
• Involve your family or your close friends in your search for a life partner and do not take a decision unilaterally.

Don't
• Don't ignore the following behavior specially if it is without an acceptable explanation:
o Provides inconsistent information about age, interests, appearance, marital status, profession, employment, etc.
o Fails to provide direct answers to direct questions
o Appears significantly different in person from his or her online persona
o Never introduces you to friends, professional associates or family members