Being blinded by love is cute; blinded by the dangers that online dating can bring, is dangerous. Kaspersky Lab warns that oversharing on online dating sites opens doors not just for a date, but also to scammers and cybercriminals.

A research by Kaspersky Lab shows that one-in-ten online dating users admit that they give out personal data to matches within minutes or hours of starting a dialogue, putting themselves at risk. The report shows 25% of users admit to sharing their full name publicly on their dating profile; one-in-ten have shared their home address and details about their work or trade secrets this way, and the same proportion have shared naked photos of themselves on their profile.

Users are even more likely to give up information to those they have been ‘matched’ within the online dating world. 15% tell these people embarrassing things about themselves and 14% provide matches with private or unclothed photos of themselves. The research also shows that 41% of individuals that use online dating have experienced some form of IT security incident, such as having their devices or accounts hacked, or being targeted by ransomware.

Online dating users are increasingly worried for their safety when they date online. 63% are worried about the device they use for online dating becoming infected and 61% are concerned about their data being stolen or leaked from the dating app or service itself. More than half the surveyed participates have experienced some form of threat or problem while dating online – ranging from online to offline threats. Despite this, users are not protecting themselves; only 21% don’t allow dating apps to access their device data and only 27% use a security or antivirus solution.

“Users need to exercise caution when it comes to giving away too much about themselves on their public profile or to potential dates – and beyond,” said Andrei Mochola, Head of Consumer Business at Kaspersky Lab. “Much like you wouldn’t tell a passerby in the street your home address and phone number on first meeting them, users of online dating sites need to take responsibility for the security of their data and not assume that it is secure and untouchable within the site or app. This advice goes far beyond online dating, and Internet users should protect themselves and their personal information online no matter where they are.”