A woman on TikTok shared a warning about looking into the person you’re going on a date with after a close call with a man who kept his police record secret.
@maddybingbong explains in the TikTok video that she doesn’t have a lot of luck with meeting men organically. She matched with a guy on Facebook Dating and thought he seemed cool and looked nice. After a few exchanges, he asked her if she wanted to meet up for dinner.
“And I was like, ‘Sure, screw it. Like, I’m free. Why not? Let’s be adventurous, I guess.’”
She says this is where he tried to obfuscate her searching for him online
She typically looks into the guys that she goes out on dates with to ensure they’re safe to meet. However, when she asked for his full name, the screenshot of his Facebook page had his name spelled backward, she later learned.
“I live in Indiana, and in Indiana, there’s something called MyCase.gov. I don’t know how many other states have it,” she says. “And you can put in somebody’s first and last name, or you can just put their last name if it’s kind of an uncommon last name.”
When she entered the many’s information, nothing showed up so she thought, “Okay, cool, he’s clean.” But then, she says, she noticed that the company he works for is the last name he gave her—spelled backward. She found traffic violations, decided everything was okay, and decided to go on the date.
“Every other person that I’ve ever met from a dating app, I mean, I know their mom’s name, possibly where they live. Like, this is the one time I did not go CIA investigative mode. But my mom did. Cause something in her mind goes, wait, something feels weird. And thank god. Thank god for my mom, for Mama Bing Bong.”
Her mom found his police record and saved the day
“As I’m pulling into the parking lot, she goes, ‘Do not go inside. He has several charges for battery, strangulation, several charges for breach of privacy.’”
“Got off the phone with my mom, and I said, let me call him real quick, and I’m gonna go home. I called him and I said, ‘Hey, just letting you know, my mom looked you up. She’s a little investigative baddie, and she found some things.’”
He tried to tell her that it wasn’t anything serious when she confronted him about it. However, she put her foot down and left.
“You’re allowed to do that. You do not owe a stranger. A damn thing.”
“I hope he does not see this. And if you do see this, I told you I would pray for you and hope that you do find somebody and that that didn’t actually happen,” she ends the TikTok
In a TikTok DM with the Daily Dot, @maddybingbong adds, “All I can say is that it definitely was an eye-opening experience to never let my guard down. It makes me never want to go [on] a date from online dating ever again. People can pretend to be someone else so easily.”
@maddybingbong Never let your guard down. Thank you @mamabingbong 🗽🔔🇺🇲 ♬ original sound – maddybingbong
Tips for staying safe before meeting an online date IRL
Dating in the digital age connects people more than ever before, but it adds a level of danger. Research shows 52% of people who use dating apps think they have encountered a scammer on the apps. Additionally, 56% of women under 50 have received unwanted sexually explicit messages, 43% received continued contact after saying they weren’t interested, and 11% of women in this age group have been threatened with physical harm.
In an article written by RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), the organization shares some tips for protecting yourself with online dating.
One of the important tips they give is to look up your potential date on social media. If you can find very little information about them, they advise you to be wary. Additionally, RAINN recommends having a video call before meeting in person to ensure the date is who they say they are. Telling a friend or family member where you are going is another important way to protect yourself.
Her video has been viewed over 1.6 million times and has nearly 5K comments
People are responding to her post sharing tips about what should and shouldn’t be done. They also are commending @maddybingbong for trusting her instincts.
@maddybingbong Never let your guard down. Thank you @mamabingbong 🗽🔔🇺🇲 ♬ original sound – maddybingbong
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