Staying safe on 60.singles

Dating online should be enjoyable, and for the overwhelming majority of people it is. Meeting someone through a screen is now one of the most common ways couples find each other, and the great majority of members you'll come across are exactly who they say they are. A small number are not, and people over 60 are targeted by scammers more than most, so we take safety seriously and give you the tools to stay in control. This page explains what we do, and just as importantly, how you can look after yourself.

Two things are worth saying at the outset. First, our safety tools work alongside your own good judgement, not instead of it, so the guidance further down this page matters as much as any feature. Second, no honest platform can promise a perfect record, and anyone who claims to catch everything isn't being straight with you. What we can promise is that we work hard to keep this a safe place, and that a real person is here when you need one.

How we help protect you

We combine technology with real human moderators, and we try to prevent problems before they reach you rather than only reacting once they've happened. The tools below fall into a few groups, and you can jump to any of them using the menu beside this article.

Knowing who's real

Confidence starts with knowing the person you're talking to is genuine, and we give you several ways to check without anyone having to expose sensitive documents.

• Optional ID verification, with a badge. Any member can choose to verify their identity with government ID and receive a visible badge on their profile. It's entirely optional, and you can do it whenever you like after joining, not before. It's worth doing for the reassurance it gives others, and worth looking for in the people you talk to.
• Video verification. A live video check with our moderators confirms a member is real without them sharing any documents at all, which suits people who'd rather not upload ID.
• Age assurance. Because this is a community strictly for the over 60s, we use age-estimation checks, with further checks where needed, to keep the community the age group it's meant to be.

Your privacy and your control

You decide what you share, with whom, and when. Nothing about your real identity is on show unless you choose to reveal it.

• Safe usernames. Your real name and email address are never shown publicly, so you can't be traced to your other accounts or looked up on social media.
• Location privacy. Your profile shows only your nearest town or city, never your exact address or live location. Where you live stays private.
• Instant blocking. You can block any member immediately, and they can no longer see you or contact you. You're always in charge of who reaches you.
• Easy reporting. If something isn't right, you can report a member or a message in a couple of taps, and a real person reviews it.

A community that stays accountable

The community helps keep itself honest, which makes it easier to judge who's worth your time.

• User rating and reputation. Members build a reputation based on their behaviour and others' feedback, so you can get a quick sense of someone before you engage.
• Simple feedback. A one-tap way to flag a good or bad interaction encourages people to behave well and surfaces problems early.
• Off-platform contact alerts. If someone tries to move your conversation to another app early on, which is a common scam tactic, the system flags it so you're on your guard.

Active protection, before harm reaches you

Our moderators and technology work behind the scenes so that a lot of trouble never reaches you in the first place.

• Behaviour monitoring. Unusual or suspicious activity patterns are picked up automatically, which helps catch scammers and fake accounts early.
• Content checked on upload. Photos, videos and text are screened when they're posted, using a mix of technology and human review, so harmful or inappropriate material is stopped before it's seen.
• Swift takedowns. When something does need removing, we act quickly to take it down.
• Sensitive-image protection. Potentially explicit images are blurred with a warning, so you're never shown something you didn't want to see.

Support and standards

When you need help, a person is there, and we hold ourselves to recognised industry standards.

• Real human support. Our support team is available by chat, phone and message, so there's always someone to turn to.
• Safe dating guidance. Helpful reminders are built into the platform to support safer decisions, both online and when you meet in person.
• Secure infrastructure. The site runs on secure, industry-standard cloud infrastructure with full encryption, keeping your data, messages and payments protected. For exactly how we handle your data, see our privacy policy.
• Industry safety standards. We align our practices with recognised standards for the dating industry, so we follow, and help shape, how the sector keeps people safe.

Your guide to safe online dating over 60

Tools do a great deal, but the single most powerful safeguard is you. The good news is that staying safe online doesn't call for suspicion or expertise, just a handful of sensible habits. Learn these once and they quickly become second nature, leaving you free to relax and enjoy meeting people.

Protecting your personal information

In the early days of chatting to someone, keep the details that could identify or locate you to yourself. There's no rush, and anyone genuine will understand completely.

• Keep your full name, home address and workplace private until you know someone well and have met them.
• Don't share financial details of any kind, ever. No genuine partner needs your bank information.
• Be careful with photos or facts that reveal exactly where you live, such as a house number or a view from your window.
• Set up a separate email address for dating if you'd like an extra layer of privacy. It's easy to do and keeps things tidy.
• Stay on the site to chat at first. Our messaging is safer than moving to text or email, where you lose the protections built in here.

Spotting a romance scammer

Romance fraud is the one risk worth understanding properly, because scammers who target older daters tend to follow a recognisable pattern. Knowing it takes away almost all of its power. Be cautious of anyone who:

• Declares strong feelings very quickly, calling you their soulmate within days. Real affection takes time.
• Always has a reason they can't meet or video call, often claiming to work abroad, serve in the military overseas, or work on a ship or oil rig.
• Pushes to move off the site and onto another app soon after you connect.
• Has a thin profile, very few photos, or pictures that look too polished to be true.
• Eventually asks for money, in any form and for any reason: a crisis, a flight to visit you, a medical bill, a customs fee, or a wonderful investment.

The golden rule sits above all the others, so we'll repeat it: never send money, gift cards or bank details to someone you have met only online, no matter how genuine or urgent it seems. That single rule stops almost every romance scam in its tracks. Our full guide to spotting fake profiles and romance scams goes into the warning signs in more depth.

Meeting in person safely

When a friendship blossoms and you decide to meet, a few straightforward precautions let you look forward to it with an easy mind. These apply however sure you feel about the person.

• Meet in a public, busy place for the first few times, a café, a pub, a park or a garden. Never somewhere private, and never their home or yours.
• Make your own way there and back, so you're never reliant on someone you've just met for a lift.
• Tell a friend or family member where you're going, who you're meeting, and when you expect to be home. A quick text to check in afterwards is a kind habit.
• Keep your phone charged and with you, and have a little money for a taxi if you need it.
• Stay in charge of your own drinks, and don't leave them unattended.
• Trust your instincts. If something feels off, you're free to leave at any moment, and you never owe anyone an explanation for looking after yourself.

If something goes wrong

If a member makes you uncomfortable, behaves badly, or you suspect they aren't genuine, report them to us and we'll look into it. Block them, and they can no longer reach you. If you think you've been the victim of a scam, or have sent money, tell your bank straight away and report it to the relevant authorities where you live. There is no shame whatsoever in it. These criminals are practised and convincing, and reporting them helps protect the next person as well as you. If you're ever in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services first.

Our part, and yours

Keeping this community safe is a partnership. Our part is to verify who wants to be verified, to moderate actively, to protect your privacy by default, and to be reachable by a real person when you need us. Your part is to guard your personal details early on, to recognise the warning signs of a scam, to meet in public and tell someone when you do, and to trust your instincts throughout. Do those few things, and the odds are firmly in your favour for exactly what you came here for: good company, at your own pace, with genuine peace of mind.