It's now 2010 and the old fashion way of dating is becoming extinct. Singles are now jumping on their computer to find love. But how do you know who you're meeting up with?

The internet is rife with scammers, frauds & perverts. Last year alone, the ACCC received 427 complaints about romance-related scams, with victims losing more than $2 million. The most common types of scams are financial, identify theft & attempts to secure a visa via marriage. But what about your emotional safety?

People who are truly looking for a partner via the internet, invest their emotions and time into developing a potential relationship. But it has been reported that almost a 1/3 of men on dating sites are actually married. The internet is a haven for predators and anti-social people who develop an identity to suit their intentions.

Here are some tips to safe dating. To start with, NEVER give out personal information about yourself over the internet and keep copies of all emails between you and your new 'partner'. If your partner has only disclosed one photo of themselves, ask for more and make sure they're recent photos. Take note of the background in the photos. Do they reflect what they've described about themselves and their situation? You can tell alot about someone by the surroundings they're in.

When you've reached the stage of setting up your first date, ALWAYS tell a trusted friend where you're meeting and the time. Get your friend to ring you about 15 minutes into the date to check on you. If you need to get out for what ever reason, have a code word ready to give your friend so they can assist you on giving you a reason to leave. Even better is to have a friend come along with you on your date, to sit in the background unnoticed.

When you've finished your date, be very aware of being followed home. Look behind you constantly for a suspicous car that always happens to be behind you. If you do notice a suspicious car and are concerned, drive straight to a populated area like a service station or a police station. If you can, get the registration number and notify the Police.

Single mothers need to be especially careful. Child predators don't just approach children directly, they also try to get access to children through singe mothers. Pay attention to these signs during the dating stages:

1. Watch for adults who seem to be particularly good at getting right in there with your children, acting like a kid, and "talking their language." This could be a sign that an adult is trying to fit into the children's world and make them extremely comfortable with his company.

2. Watch out for adults who seem to go out of their way to touch children, especially in inappropriate ways. many pedophiles attracted to young boys and girls begin their "seduction" by touching the child in very specific ways. For example, they will offer to help a child tuck in his or her shirt, only their hands will go unnecessarily deep into the child's pants or skirt.

3. Besides sly touching, pedophiles will often single a child out for special flattery or attention. Be aware of adults who make a lot of eye contact with the child or even overtly stare at them, especially at the genital area. Also, take note if an adult buys your child special gifts or gives them money. Pedophiles who "flirt" with children are telling a child "you're special."

4. Watch for adults whose homes seem like a kid's playground. Pedophiles often fill their homes with toys, video games, bikes and other things that children love. An adult who uses toys and recreation to attract children to his home is saying, "I'm just like you and I want to be your best friend."

5. If someone regularly offers to give your child rides, take your child on outings, baby-sit while you take a break, or help the child with homework, he's effectively saying, "Relax, trust me, I'm here to help. I'm just an all-around great guy who loves kids and I want you to see me as the good guy in your life." This is an especially common ploy used on single mothers, who will see this helpful person as a godsend. But the molester is not motivated to be helpful, he is motivated to appear to be helpful and to be seen as a great guy. Like all molesters they live a life of pretense, a life of lies. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

6. If you find any of these "secret language" signs fit a particular situation in your life, you may have a problem that you need to look into right away, but you must not overreact. Proceed very carefully. The idea here is for you to remove the prey (your child) from the potential predator, not create a scene.

You should not, for any reason, confront the predator. This is not a "call to arms," but rather a means of avoiding problems. Be extremely careful not to make accusations without absolute proof and then ONLY with the help of law enforcement and the appropriate social services. The problems that could develop if you don't first contact proper authorities could be critical.

I wish you a happy & successful dating experience.

* Depression

* Self Blame

* Nausea

* Insomnia

* Loss of Appetite

* Increase Smoking

* Excess Alcohol Consumption

* Chest Pains

* Loneliness

* Sudden Outburst of Crying

* Headaches

If you suffer from any of the above and have been the victim of a cheating partner, NEVER blame yourself. Do not let other person affect your health, or emotional wellbeing.

If the above symptoms persist, seek solace that you WILL one day, meet someone who will treat you like you deserve.

Experts believe that men visit prostitutes for numerous reasons. Firstly, it's never been easier to find and contact sex workers due to the internet and legal brothels opening up every year. Secondly, a growing number of men are often in a stable relationship, but will still visit prostitutes to perhaps play out fantasies or domination that they can't get at home.

Single men may visit prostitutes because they may see it easier than playing the dating game. Men can pay for sex in a straight forward transaction, and they get what they want. There are also no emotional strings attached.

Having sex with prostitutes can be a thrilling and illicit experience for a man, which gives them a sense of power and control. Some experts argue that for certain men, the act of visiting a prostitute has become an extension of the high-adrenaline lifestyle commonplace today. For other men, the "cheapness" of the whole act is a turn-on for them.

If a man is in a relationship with someone and visits prostitutes, is it seen as cheating? Can a man declare that he didn't cheat because he has no emotional connection to the girl? Or is having sex with another person at any time cheating, whether there is an emotion connection or not?

Currently, Sex Addiction isn't recognised by any official diagnosis in the American Psychiatric Association's 'Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders (DSM). But since Tiger Woods was publicly shamed by his self admitted 'Sex Addiction', this new disorder has been headlines around the world. Typically, sexual addiction refers to an individual who is unable to manage their sexual behaviour. Skeptics believe that it is a myth that the phenomenon actually exists, but is simply an repetitive action carried out due to cultural and other influences.

Could Sex Addiction be the new "excuse" for having an affair behind your partner's back after they are caught out? Does this new term give cheating partners an opportunity to justify their behaviour because it's "not their fault"? A chronic adulterer who gets caught might hide behind the term.

Anything to do with sex is controversial. Everyone has an opinion of where the boundaries lie between what is normal and what isn't. With the increase in sexual provocation within our society, it has spawned an increase in individuals engaging in unusual or illicit sexual practices such as using phone sex services, prostitutes and internet pornography.

Either way, if a partner has what they term a 'Sexual Addiction', their obsession with meeting their sexual needs is extremely damaging to their partnership when it is searched for outside of their relationship.

Sunday Mail(4th October):

An article looks at whether a relationship can survive if one partner has an affair. The writer states that a couple can survive betrayal if both parties are willing to work on themselves and their relationship.

The writer further states that the person who committed the infidelity must be honest about their actions. They must communicate and acknowledge that they have done wrong, and accept responsibility for this.

Then the writer explains that both partners need to set clear expectations for moving ahead, knowing that it will be different from before the infidelity occurred. Trust also needs to be earned again. If you choose to stay committed to each other, then you need forgive. Surviving infidelity can actually strengthen your relationship and take it to a new level.

I put to you, the reader, can you truly survive infidelity? Even if you did forgive, do you really ever forget? Does caution sit at the back of your consciousness, just waiting for a suspicious action?

A once fractured relationship is now fragile and takes a lot less to shatter.

Is there really true happiness and contentment after infidelity?