Dating Safety Guide
Your safety comes first.
Oku is built to help you be seen, heard and matched with intention. Safety is part of that. This guide explains how to protect yourself while you use Oku, what we do on our side, and where to get help if something goes wrong.
If you are in immediate danger
Call 911. Do not wait to report to us first.
Call 911 (United States and Canada) or your local emergency number. Oku does not offer emergency response services. Once you are safe, report the member to us at safety@meetoku.app so we can act on the account.
Call 911
Email safety@meetoku.app
Please read first
Important safety notice
Please read the following before using Oku. The sections that follow set out the safety measures Oku has in place and the practices we ask every member to follow.
There is no substitute for acting with caution when communicating with any stranger who wants to meet you.
Never include your last name, email address, home address, phone number, place of work, or any other identifying information in your profile or initial messages. Stop communicating with anyone who pressures you for personal or financial information, or who attempts in any way to trick you into revealing it.
If you choose to have a face-to-face meeting with another member, always tell someone in your family or a friend where you are going and when you will return. Never agree to be picked up at your home. Always provide your own transportation to and from your date, and meet in a public place with many people around.
01
What Oku does, and what it does not
Being clear about this matters more than reassuring language.
What we do
Verification first
We ask members to complete verification before they can be introduced to anyone.
Mutual connection
We require mutual connection before a conversation can open. Nobody can message you because they liked your profile alone.
You stay in control
We give you controls to skip, block, un-match and report at any point, without needing to explain yourself.
We act on reports
We review reports and take action on accounts that breach our Community Guidelines and Terms.
AI is disclosed
We disclose when you are speaking with Oku’s AI rather than a person.
Liveness check
We perform a liveness check and real human test on all members.
What we do not do
No background checks
We do not run criminal background checks or sex offender registry checks on members.
No identity guarantee
We do not confirm that anyone is who they claim to be beyond the verification steps described above.
No vouching
We do not vouch for any member’s intentions, character, marital status, employment or safety.
No verification process is perfect, and no online platform can guarantee your safety. Treat every member as someone you have not yet met.
02
Protecting your personal information
The most common harms on dating platforms start with information the member handed over themselves.
Stay on the platform. Keep conversations on Oku until you trust the person. Moving to another app early removes your reporting and blocking tools, and is a frequent first move in scams.
Withhold identifying details. Hold back your home address, workplace address, daily routine, full date of birth, employer name and financial details. There is no stage of early dating that requires them.
Watch what your photos reveal. Photos with street signs, building numbers, transit stops, school or gym logos, and parcels with your address can locate you. So can a screenshot of your calendar.
Never share credentials. Never share passwords, banking details, credit card numbers, SIN or SSN, government ID images, or one-time verification codes with a match. Oku will never ask you for these in a conversation.
Tell one person you trust. Do it once, before you go: name, photo and a copy of the profile, where you are going, when, and when you expect to be home.
03
Voice, AI and impersonation
Oku is voice-first, which is why this section exists. Voice feels more personal and more trustworthy than text. That is a real benefit and also a real risk, because synthetic voice is now inexpensive and widely available.
A convincing voice is not proof of identity. A voice that sounds warm, fluent and emotionally attuned is not evidence of honesty. Tone is the easiest thing to perform.
Assume audio can be recorded. Any audio you send can be copied, re-shared or used to train a synthetic voice. Send voice notes to a match the way you would send them to a stranger because at that stage, they are one.
Be alert to a persistent refusal to talk live. Refusing every live voice call or video call while pushing the relationship forward quickly is a strong signal that someone is not who they say they are.
Know when you are talking to Oku. Oku identifies itself as AI at the start of a session. If any voice on Oku claims to be a staff member, a support agent or a moderator and asks you for payment, credentials or personal data, it is not us. Report it.
Verify urgent requests through a second channel. If you are contacted by someone claiming to be a person you know and asking for money or urgent help, hang up and call that person back on a number you already have.
04
Recognising romance scams and financial fraud
Romance fraud is the highest-value harm in online dating, and it follows a recognisable script. Someone who is running that script will usually show several of these signs at once.
Declarations of love, talk of a shared future, or a request to be exclusive within days of meeting.
A story that explains why they can never meet: overseas contract, offshore rig, military deployment, sudden travel.
Pressure to move to WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal or email almost immediately.
Any request for money, however small or however well justified: a medical emergency, customs fees, a flight home, a phone bill, a family crisis.
An invitation to invest, especially in cryptocurrency, foreign exchange, gold or a “guaranteed” opportunity they will guide you through. This pattern is often called pig butchering and it is the most costly variant.
A request to receive money and forward it on, or to accept a package. This can make you a money mule and carries criminal liability.
Photos that look professional or inconsistent, a profile that reveals little, or details of their story that change.
The single rule that covers all of it
Never send money, cryptocurrency, gift cards, wire transfers or account access to someone you have not met in person. There is no exception to this rule that is worth the risk.
If you have already sent money, stop all contact, keep your records, and report it to the authorities listed in Where to get help. Being targeted is not your fault, and reporting early improves the chance of recovery.
05
Sextortion and intimate images
Be cautious about sharing intimate images or engaging in intimate video calls with someone you have not met. A common scam is to record the call and then demand payment.
If you are being extorted, do not pay. Paying almost always leads to further demands.
Do not delete the conversation. Screenshot everything, then block and report the account to us and to law enforcement.
If you are under 18, you are not permitted to use Oku. If intimate images of a minor are involved, contact the resources in Where to get help immediately. This is a crime and help is available.
06
Meeting in person
Most Oku members will meet in New York City or the Greater Toronto Area. Treat the first several meetings as public, planned and independent.
Before you go
Meet in a busy public place: a café, bar or restaurant. Not a home, not a hotel, not a car, not a remote location.
Arrange your own transport there and back. Do not be picked up or dropped off, and do not share your address for a first meeting.
Tell a friend where you are going and when you expect to be back, and agree a check-in time.
Consider sharing your live location with that friend for the duration.
Charge your phone fully and carry a payment method that does not depend on your date.
While you are there
Keep your drink with you and watch it being poured. Do not accept a drink you did not see prepared.
Stay in control of how much you drink. Impairment is the factor most often present when a date goes wrong.
Do not leave your phone, bag or coat unattended.
If you feel uncomfortable, leave. You do not owe anyone an explanation, a full drink or a polite exit. Staff at most venues will help you leave discreetly if you ask.
Afterwards
Go home on your own terms. Agreeing to one more stop because it feels rude to decline is how a good evening becomes an unsafe one.
If anything felt off, report it. You do not need proof, and you do not need to have been harmed. Reports help us protect other members.
07
Consent and respect
Consent is specific, freely given, and can be withdrawn at any moment. Agreeing to a date is not agreement to anything else.
Someone who is intoxicated, asleep or incapacitated cannot consent.
Silence, hesitation or going along with something is not consent. Look for a clear yes.
Pressure, guilt, persistence after a no, or threats to expose someone are forms of coercion, and they are grounds for removal from Oku.
Unsolicited sexual content, harassment, hate speech, and threats have no place on Oku. Report them.
Everyone on Oku is entitled to be treated with respect regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, disability, body, gender identity or sexual orientation. If you are LGBTQ+ and travelling or meeting outside a place where you feel safe being open, take extra care with what you share and where you meet.
08
Reporting and blocking
Every profile and conversation on Oku includes block, un-match and report. Using them costs you nothing and the other member is not told who reported them.
Report a member if they
Ask you for money, crypto, gift cards or financial or account information.
Appear to be using someone else’s photos, a synthetic voice, or a false identity.
Send unsolicited sexual content, harassment, threats or hate speech.
Push you off the platform immediately, or refuse any live conversation while escalating the relationship.
Appear to be under 18, or are impersonating Oku staff.
Behaved in a way that made you feel unsafe on or after a date, including anything you would struggle to prove.
You can also reach our safety team directly at safety@meetoku.app. If you have been harmed, tell us; we can preserve relevant account records for a law enforcement request. Please contact law enforcement directly as well. We cannot investigate or prosecute crimes.
Email safety@meetoku.app
09
Where to get help
These services are independent of Oku. They are free and, in most cases, available around the clock.
United States
Emergency services
911
Immediate danger or a crime in progress
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988
Emotional distress or thoughts of suicide
National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-7233
Abuse by a partner or someone you have dated
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline
1-800-656-4673
Sexual assault, including support with next steps
Canada
Emergency services
911
Immediate danger or a crime in progress
9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline
Call or text 988
Emotional distress or thoughts of suicide
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
1-888-495-8501
Romance fraud, investment scams, sextortion
Assaulted Women’s Helpline (ON)
1-866-863-0511
Abuse, threats and safety planning
Toronto Rape Crisis Centre
416-597-8808
Sexual assault crisis support
Victim Services Toronto
416-808-7066
Support after a crime, 24 hours
10
A final word
Oku is designed so that fewer, better introductions replace endless browsing. That reduces some risks and removes none of them. The judgement that keeps you safe is still yours: go slowly, keep your information to yourself until trust is earned, meet in public, and leave whenever you want to.
If something on Oku ever feels wrong, tell us. We would far rather hear about ten things that turned out to be nothing than miss the one that was not.
Oku is a product of The Rajma Company Inc.
Safety: safety@meetoku.app · Support: info@meetoku.app
This guide is general information, not legal, medical or security advice, and it does not create any duty or guarantee of safety on Oku’s part. Please also read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This notice is provided in accordance with New York General Business Law § 394-cc.
Last updated: August 28 2026 · Version 1.0