Tinder and OKCupid owner sued for ‘trying to lure potential subscribers with emails from fake profiles’
- US Federal Trade Commission alleges that Match Group knowingly sent automated ads with expressions of interest from accounts which it knew were likely fake
Did the response to your online dating profile seem too good to be true?
US consumer protection authorities alleged in a complaint filed Wednesday that many of those messages on Tinder, OKCupid and other services operated by Match.com - such as “You caught his eye!” and “Someone’s interested in you!” - were in fact from fake profiles, and used as part of an effort to boost subscriptions.
A lawsuit by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claims Match.com “exposed consumers to the risk of fraud” by allowing fraudulent accounts to operate on the dating services
“We believe that Match.com conned people into paying for subscriptions via messages the company knew were from scammers,” said Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
“Online dating services obviously shouldn’t be using romance scammers as a way to fatten their bottom line.”
Responding to the allegations, Match.com called the FTC’s claims “completely meritless” and said it goes to great lengths to root out fraud and scammers on the services.