I’m sorry you’ve had a bad interaction, and I hope you get everything straightened out.

Don’t give your phone number to strangers. Period. You can search for the profile picture in Google image search — most likely it’s “borrowed”.

I’d also avoid interaction with users who don’t have a track-record on italki, you know, public comments on discussions, notebook entries, notebook corrections, paid lessons, or at least a short introduction. A lack of posts can be a signal they’re not serious, if not necessarily a scammer. If they do have posts (or at least an introduction), feel free to send me the details and I’ll tell you if they’re really a native English speaker and whether or not they’re culturally Anglophone.

Always report scammers to italki immediately.

Be aware of some scammers who would introduce themselves as the US soldier served in Afghanistan. Sorry that you had to go through this. So, s/he wanted to sign up in a dating site but didn't dare to give his/her own number! Strange! Seems like s/he is a shy scammer!:D

Hmm, I think you can send an email to the admin of that site describing what just happened. These kind of dating sites are place for scammers where they can thrive quite easily. Recently, one of my friends told me about a news of a person got looted by a girl he met in a dating site! Anyway, scammers are everywhere be in real life or virtual, so it's good to stay a bit cautious without sharing any personal contact details.

This is why I don't use Whatsapp or Snapchat or Kik. These are mostly used by young people as dating sites. With whatsapp yes you pretty much are giving a stranger your phone number. Which personally I would be extremely cautious of giving my phone number to anyone I didn't know. It's just asking for trouble. Plus I've totally gotten private messages from men that claim to be native English speakers from the US and living in the US but want to 'learn English' anyway. Mostly these men have profile photos of them wearing a business suit. They are quick to ask if I'm married.