Meeting In Person
A first meeting should reduce uncertainty, not create new risk.
If you decide to meet someone you know online, keep enough independence that you can leave, change plans, or ask for help without relying on the other person.
Before the trip
- Tell a trusted person where you are going and who you are meeting.
- Keep copies of travel details and the person’s basic information with someone you trust.
- Use transportation and lodging you control when practical.
- Keep your own identification, phone, money, and payment cards with you.
- Do not carry cash, packages, or financial items for the other person.
- Do not make a large payment to “unlock” the meeting or fix a last-minute emergency.
For the first meeting
- Meet in a public place.
- Have your own way to leave.
- Keep someone updated.
- Do not let pressure about money, sex, travel, immigration, business, or investments turn the meeting into a decision deadline.
If the meeting is cancelled
One cancelled plan can happen. Repeated cancellations deserve a closer look, especially when each cancellation is tied to a new request for money. The FTC and FBI both list repeated inability to meet as a romance scam warning sign.