{"id":820285,"date":"2026-05-25T03:47:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T03:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/820285\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T03:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T03:47:13","slug":"expert-shares-safety-tips-for-spotting-red-flags-when-using-dating-apps-in-houston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/820285\/","title":{"rendered":"Expert shares safety tips for spotting red flags when using dating apps in Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><strong>HOUSTON<\/strong> \u2013 Houston police say a home invasion near West Alabama and Brandt streets in Montrose may have been connected to a dating app \u2014 and a local domestic violence advocate for victims is urging people to stay alert when meeting strangers online.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Four people were inside the home when a suspect forced his way inside and threatened them, according to the Houston Police Department. K-9 and patrol units took the suspect into custody, and no one was hurt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">HPD says the suspect had previously met one of the occupants on a dating site before showing up at the home unannounced. The people inside were able to get out safely.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><b>Red flags to watch for<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Martine Desmolieres, founder of Going Out Divine runs an organization that works to protect women from domestic violence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cOne of the red flags I\u2019d say is people who want to rush intimacy \u2014 people who overshare information too quickly,&#8221; Desmolieres said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">She offered safety advice for anyone using dating apps.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThey pressure you, mostly early on. Those are red flags. They are love-bombing, right? They\u2019re providing way too much attention very early, and their controlling behavior is disguised as concern,\u201d Desmolieres said<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cWe want to make sure we pay attention to these red flags, inconsistencies. I suggest if you do use your dating app, take your time and don\u2019t rush it,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><b>Tips before meeting up<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Desmolieres also recommends doing a video chat with a potential date before agreeing to meet in person.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">She says it is also important to let a friend know where you are going, especially when meeting someone for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Houston police say a home invasion near West Alabama and Brandt streets in Montrose may have&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":820286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5130],"tags":[24593,4345,425,50,358,3187],"class_list":["post-820285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-dating-apps","tag-houston","tag-local","tag-news","tag-texas","tag-tx"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116633170260097812","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=820285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/820285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=820285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=820285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=820285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}