Very early upon entering the lifestyle I was a victim of a blackmail attempt which made me very cautious (read: paranoid) and since then I've been very careful of the information I provide.

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So much so that I use a fake ''play'' name, however I do tell my couples that it is not a real name in an effort to be as transparent as I'm comfortable with. I work in an industry where I would essentially be blackballed were my company to find out and would have to completely change careers.

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Personally, I don't see the importance of names in the lifestyle, real or fake, other than a way to reference someone and don't see why real identities are needed at all. I see a lot more risk than benefits in giving out my real name. I would like to get other opinions on this though to see what the lifestyle standards are.

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A couple that I'm close with and see regularly has now politely told me that they would no longer like to continue seeing me unless I give them my real name citing trust issues. To complicate matters further, they pay for my travel expenses to go see them, which had previously been anonymous via crypto but now they would like to switch to bank transfers which would mean providing them with my full name plus bank account number.

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I do trust this couple for now, but I'm trying to protect myself against any potential risks that may arise in the future. The problem is I have no idea what possible risks may come up but I do know that once I reveal my identity, I can't take that back and I become very vulnerable.

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I would be very grateful if any of the more experienced members of this group weighed-in and shared their opinion and also if anyone has any stories of things that went wrong so I can be aware of unforeseen problems and assess the risks involved as accurately as possible.

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Thanks in advance.

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