The FTC claims Match.com tricked users into paying for a subscription
Federal officials are suing Match.com's owner for allegedly tricking customers into signing up for paid subscriptions to the popular dating site and then retaining them as sub-crabs through "deceptive" cancellation policy.
According to a press release from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Match Group, the company that owns a number of dating sites and apps, sent Match.com users fake "love interest ads" to entice them to subscribe to the service.
Users can create a Match. com account for free and are allowed to browse other profiles, but only those with paid subscriptions can view the profiles that liked or favorited them on the site, or read the messages they receive. (Subscription costs vary by package but amount to $ 20 per month on average.)
The FTC claims that the company e-mailed non-subscribers to Match.com about accounts that liked or favored their account, sent a message them on the site, or send them all as part of a bid from the company to persuade people to subscribe ̵[ads1]1; even though these accounts had been flagged as fraudulent and likely run by someone trying to commit a romantic scam.
As a result, between June 2016 and May 2018, around 499,691 users had subscribed to Match.com within 24 hours of receiving a similar email or message from a fraudulent account, the lawsuit states.
Many of these subscribers wound up interacting with a scammer on the site, the FTC said, thereby exposing them to the risk of fraud.
When asked about the FTC lawsuit, a Match BuzzFeed News spokesperson led a statement on its website disputing the allegations, including the agency "overestimating the impact of false accounts" and "mischaracterizing what is covered by" fraudulently. ""
"The vast majority of users that the FTC classifies as & # 39; fraudulent & # 39; are not romance scams or similar types of scammers, but spam, bots, and other users who try to use the service for their own commercial purposes," that in the statement.
Match is also the parent company of Tinder, OKCupid, and Hinge, among other dating apps.
The company said in its statement that it intends to "vigorously defend us against these claims in court."
