[Epona]

I have something to say here -

Meeting people on the internet is NO DIFFERENT than meeting someone in a pub, a shop, or any other place. You don't know whether someone is telling the truth when you speak to them queuing behind you in the supermarket. You don't know if you are giving your details to a stalker when you open an account at the bank. The only difference is that in RL it is more difficult for a 20 year old man to pretend to be an 80 year old woman - but there is still plenty of face to face deception.

The vast majority of violent crime is carried out by someone who was close to the victim, most usually a family member. More people die or are badly injured at work because their jobs are dangerous than because of some stranger attacking them. You have to put it in perspective. If you meet someone from the internet, take the same precautions as you would meeting anyone you didn't know well - and tell people where you are going, when you will be back, and how you can be contacted.

A scary story. The serial killer Dennis Neilsen used to work in the Civil Service. He was active in the union - my union. He used to go to union conferences, the same ones I now go to. OK, I'm too young to have known him personally - but plenty of people that I know remember him and even used to socialise with him at his house which was down the road from where I live. He was eventually caught, but of course none of the people that knew him well enough to go drinking with him, or go have tea at his house, none of these people that I know, ever suspected that he was a violent mass murderer. Face to Face interaction is NO guarantee of safety or honesty!