1.) Don’t give out too much personal information online. Things like your home address, phone number, etc. Keep things light.
2.) Make your first meeting in public in broad daylight. Choose a popular restaurant or some area where there are always lots of other people. Also, on the first meeting, never let someone you just met walk you back to your car.
3.) Take things slow. And don’t ignore any “red flags” that may come up. For example, if someone insists on always calling you rather than the other way around or if they’re never available on weekends, don’t ignore things like this.