Hi Katherine,
In this day and age of technological advances, people can find out a lot about you with even less than your phone number.
A first name and a general idea of what area of town you live in and what you do for a living is enough for some determined people to find you, thanks to what technology can do today.
The experience that you had with the man that you met off the dating app knowing so much about you based off of looking up your real phone number was definitely cause for concern. You never really know who you are dealing with on a dating app until you have really gotten to know them better as a person.
Even if you have Google Voice, you should always be cautious of men who want to start texting you through another medium too prematurely. Using Google Voice does not keep you from falling for a guy who is cunning enough to get you to trust him, even though you took the precaution of using Google Voice to communicate with him outside of the dating app.
If his ultimate goal is to take advantage of you in some manner, Google Voice isn’t capable of screening out men of poor character who can keep that part of themselves hidden.
Though you are using Google Voice now, still exercise caution and common sense. If you believe that it is too soon to start texting each other outside of the dating app, let that be known, instead of just handing him your Google Voice Number.
A man who is truly interested in getting to know you as the person you are, with no ill intentions, will respect that and continue chatting with you for a sensible amount of time on the dating app until you are ready to take communication away from the dating app.