Okay, so you had some reservations, but you finally decide to try this online dating thing. Your cousin met the love of her life online, so its worth a try right You find a site that offers free membership so you can browse for possible dates without paying up front.
Once youve made a snazzy profile, you start getting responses, like this:
Hiya! Wow we live close, are you are up for meeting people near where you live Upload a photo
But when you try to reply to these messages, you get this popup:
If youre really curious, you have to shell out $20 for a one month membership. Fair enough, you think, the site has to make money somehow. You agree to the upgrade fee because youre excited to start a conversation.
You send replies back to each person who showed an interest in you and then you wait and wait and wait
No one writes back. No. One. What gives
The FTC asked this same question when people started complaining about their experiences on dating sites owned and operated by JDI Dating. The agency discovered that these websites used fake profiles, called Virtual Cupids, to coax users into upgrading to paid memberships. Within minutes of signing up, new members received personalized messages from what appeared to be real people. But they werent real. They were generated by JDI and set to send messages at specific times.
Even worse, according to the FTC complaint, disappointed members were often unknowingly charged again to keep their subscription current. Some users who tried to cancel their membership had trouble doing so. The FTC alleged that the process to cancel was overly complicated, and that even when people took the required steps, they werent always successful.
JDI Dating has agreed to change its business practices and pay more than $600,000 to settle the FTCs charges.
If you have a complaint about an online dating site, report it at ftc.gov/complaint.
Nicole Vincent Fleming
Consumer Education Specialist, FTC
Topics: Be Smart OnlineTagged with: free trial offers, online datingSource: www.onguardonline.gov
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