People at this stage of life are sometimes experiencing the loss of lifelong spouses and suddenly find themselves in a situation where they are lonely. For some, the thought of being lonely is too much and they would like to find someone else to share the remainder of life with so they turn to online dating services. But seniors must be careful that in their eagerness they don't overlook some things to watch out for in online dating. While there are many honest people providing services on the Internet, there are also many unscrupulous people who are out to take whatever they can from others—especially seniors. Here are seven tips for seniors when it comes to online dating:

1. Limiting the amount of personal information you expose to strangers on the internet is one of the most important safety measures you as a senior (or anyone else for that matter) can take in online dating.

2. Be truthful about the pictures of yourself that you post. Take the first step to be honest with people. Don't post pictures of yourself in your 30s when you are in your 50s.

3. You should be especially careful of revealing any information to a non-paying or free member on the dating service site. Understand that an online dating service web site is a business just like any other valid business. They need to be able to collect a fee in order to stay online and pay their expenses for web hosting service, webmaster maintenance, and fees associated with making and collecting payments. A free member trying to get you to circumvent the system and release your personal information and deal offsite is probably a scammer. He or she may not be such but the risk is too high to take chances.

4. The best tip is to try and get a background check on the person you meet in the online dating service forum. An online dating service named TheBadge.org will actually do free background checks for convicted felons and married people who join their site. And they have some pretty stern warnings for these people as well. Many also do not know that you can look up conviction information in many states in the U.S. The court systems in many states have web sites with judicial records that are available to the public. You can see if the person is divorced or has charges of domestic violence or other criminal charges.

5. When you have arranged a first date, meet in a public place. Also, tell a friend or close family member where you are going for this date and the times you will be there. Take a cell phone. There is much less likelihood that something will happen in a public place.

6. Be careful of persons you are communicating with for a possible date who ask a lot of questions but will not answer your questions. Con artists and predators are very skilled at getting information they need by formulating questions in such a manner that they derive the answers. You can actually give them information you never intended to give. And because these predators know this, they will not answer your questions because you might figure out who they really are.

7. And finally, a good rule to always follow is if something does not feel right, don't proceed with it. You will be able to tell when the person you are communicating with is not quite right. Something inside of you will alert you. Listen to that hunch inside of you. It could keep you out of a lot of trouble.

Follow these rules and you will increase the chances that your online dating adventure will be a safe and memorable one.