The term 'stranger danger' was coined as a warning to children: beware the unknown adult, proceed with caution and be very careful what personal information you reveal. Perhaps most would be more guarded and make sure they know who they are dealing with before revealing too much about themselves.
But our relationship with 'strangers' has been evolving and social media has torn down some of the barriers that used to protect us.
The hack took place in March and was first uncovered by an independent IT security consultant Bev Robb. Teksecurity did not name the site that was hacked but this week England’s Channel 4News reported on the hack that Adult Friend Finder was named as the victim.
The exposed details from the site were of personal nature including email addresses, usernames, birthdays and zip codes in addition to sexual preferences.
You can flirt without the awkwardness of seeing someone face to face and if there is no love spark, you can hit delete and carry on. Many of us know couples who met online and went on to have meaningful relationship.
But a joint W5- investigation found a sinister online world where crooks and conmen lurk, pretending to be lonely hearts but in reality are seeking to empty bank accounts, and quickly move on – jilting their victims.
No credit data has yet been uncovered as part of the hack.
Andrew Auernheimer, a computer hacker who looked through the files, used Twitter to publicly identify the Adult dating site customers that included a Washington police academy commander, an FAA employee, a California state tax worker and a naval intelligence officer who supposedly tried to cheat on his wife.
In the year ending March 2015, the Office of National Statistics recorded the highest figure for sexual offences since recording began in 2002, up 37 per cent increase on the previous year.
For female victims of serious sexual assaults, 16 per cent were recorded as "stranger relationships".
Skout is one of the largest online dating platforms with over 5 million users.
Skout’s “Meet Me” feature allows users to flip through and see who’s nearby and ready to hook up.
An adult dating site known as Friend Finder was hacked leading to 3.5 million people’s sexual preferences and secrets exposed.