Category: Outlets – BBC
eHarmony: Trump Win Has More People Looking For Love
DateSafe: A New UK Campaign To Raise Romance Scam Awareness
BBC NEWS – Feb 12 – A new UK campaign, Date Safe, is a partnership between Get Safe Online, Victim Support, AgeUK, City of London Police, the Metropolitan Police and the Online Dating Association. Date Safe suggests criminals are using love letter templates and an online search could flag up some of the stock phrases. Police say the average dating scam victim is aged 49 and loses £10k. While most activity occurred on dating websites, the majority of the 15% that did not was carried out via Facebook. Criminals can purchase scam "packs" containing love letter templates, photos, videos and false identities for as little as a few dollars on the dark web, said Prof Alan Woodward, cybersecurity expert at Surrey University.
UK Online Dating Fraud Victim Numbers At Record High
BBC.COM – Jan 23 – According to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, there were 3,889 victims of romance fraud last year, who handed over a record £39M. One woman who lost ~£300,000 says she felt emotionally "brutalised". She met the scammer on Match.com. Match.com says it provides regular advice on how to stay safe and suggests members keep conversations on the site "so that our customer care team can identify abnormal activity".
Dating Apps Must Protect Users Better, Says NPCC
BBC.COM – Nov 24 – Dating apps "must take more responsibility" for protecting their users' safety on dates, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has said. It comes after Stephen Port was found guilty of murdering four men he had met through dating apps. In the UK, the number of people reporting being raped on a first date with someone they met on a dating app increased six-fold between 2009 and 2014 to 184 cases a year, according to the National Crime Agency.
MapleMatch.com To Save US Singles From The Horror Of Trump Presidency
BBC.CO.UK – Sep 7 – Canada could see an influx of immigrants if Donald Trump is elected president in November. ~20% of US citizens would consider emigrating if he made it to the White House. Joe Goldman has seen this as an opportunity and launched Maple Match, a dating site aimed at Americans who want to meet Canadians.
The Science Behind Online Dating Profiles
Beautiful People Dating Site Data Sold
BBC NEWS – Apr 26 – The details of ~9M members including their weight, height, job, and phone numbers were discovered unencrypted online in Dec 2015. They have now been sold on the black market. Beautiful People originally claimed the content was from a test server but Mr Vickery said the data itself was still genuine.
by Zoe Kleinman
See full article at BBC News
New Dating Apps That Want To Take On Tinder
BBC.COM – Feb 14 – Combining match-making with games and quizzes, DatePlay is designed to generate meaningful matches. Behind the app is entrepreneur Vana Koutsomitis, who first pitched her idea on the BBC television series The Apprentice. She did not win Lord Sugar's investment – he judged the project too risky – but she has continued work on her app. Hanky is another new dating app. It lets existing members decide whether new joiners should be allowed in. The app, for men only, launched in January and has since attracted 85K members.
by Chris Foxx
See full article at BBC
The Search For Love Has Changed
BBC.COM – Feb 13 – There is no doubt that online dating and smartphones are dramatically changing the way people hook up. In the US in 1940, family connections and church were common ways to find a romantic partner. By 1990, ~40% of couples met through friends. But, by the turn of the Millennium, the Internet was revolutionising the way people got together.
