PR WEB – Sep 10 – Online dating security service, Scamalytics, offer to scan dating sites for scammers and fake profiles and generate a free performance report.
Category: Scammer
The Marriage Of Online Dating And Online Fraud
TELEGRAPH.CO.UK – Apr 15 – As online dating grows, online fraud goes with it. There was $65M worth of online dating fraud reported last year, but James Vargas, founder of online identity service MiiCard, estimates that "one fifth of victims report it to the authorities". That means ~2.5% of people involved in online dating are victims of fraud. The typical frauds involve fake profiles followed up by a sob story and a request for money. There's reliable research to suggest ~10% of online dating profiles are fakes of this type.
Glamour Magazine: 1 In 10 Profiles Are Scams
VENTURE BEAT – Oct 30 – A special report published in this month's issue of Glamour Magazine highlights the dangers of scammers in online dating. “On most dating sites, one out of 10 profiles is a scammer,” Mark Brooks, editor of Online Personals Watch told Glamour. Con artists will user publicly obtained profile photos, often of military members, and create a fake profile to target people. The FBI recently issued a warning about a different kind of online dating scam known as “ransomware.” It’s a virus that will make your computer inoperable until you hand over a payment.
by Christina Farr
See full article at Venture Beat
Mark Brooks: B.S. misquote. I said, 'on some sites as many as 1 in 10 profiles is a scammer.'
Cupid Implements Scamalytics On Its Most Popular Networks
PRESS RELEASE – Oct 28 – Cupid has partnered with RecSys to implement new Scamalytics anti-scammer technology on its most popular online dating networks – Cupid.com, BeNaughty.com, GirlsDateForFree.com, Flirt.com, and BlackMatch.com. Cupid's new measures aim to catch scammers 35% faster and increase detection rates by 10%. The company currently blocks 20,000 scammers each month.
iovation ReputationManager 360 Named Best Security Service Of 2012
GADGETS – Oct 8 – iovation ReputationManager 360 solution won gold in the security service category for the 4th annual 2012 Golden Bridge Awards. The Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Awards annually highlight industry and peer recognition honoring the best companies worldwide in every major industry. This year's gold winners include Apple, Cisco Systems, General Motors, Hilton Hotels, IBM, Juniper Networks, Pinterest, Proctor & Gamble and Samsung.
About iovation iovation protects online businesses and their end users against fraud and abuse through a combination of shared device reputation and real-time risk evaluation.
Cupid Partners With Scamalytics To Fight Scammers
PR WEB – Sep 5 – Cupid plc is implementing Scamalytics anti-scammer technology from RecSys. It is already operating on BeNaughty.com and GirlsDateForFree.com, with rollout planned on other sites within months. Cupid is now catching scammers 35% faster and scammer detection is up 10%.
Online Dating Scams Cost Kiwis $674K Last Year
NBR.CO.NZ – Aug 13 – New Zealanders lost $674K to online dating scams last year, making it easily the biggest internet fraud category in new figures released by Netsafe, which totaled $982K in total losses.
Internet Dating Scams: 21st Century Organized Crime
FOX BUSINESS – Aug 9 – Internet dating scams have been around for decades. Women ages 45 to 60 account for ~60% of reported victims. Scammers like to target people who are isolated because it makes it that much easier to victimize them. It's the 21st century version of organized crime. MoneyGram, which provides a secure way to send money, refunded 4,870 transactions amounting to $13.7M in (thwarted romance scams). The refunds were processed when MoneyGram staff worked with potential victims to root out a possible scam before the money was delivered to the con artist.
Hundreds Of Thousands Scammed Via Dating Sites Yearly
CONSUMER AFFAIRS – June 17 – The average dating scam victim loses nearly $9K, not counting the emotional cost. According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), Americans were robbed of $50M in online dating scams in 2011. The IC3 said it fields an average of 15 date-site-related complaints a day.
Aussies Lost $21 Million To Online Dating Scams In 2011
HERALD SUN – Feb 16 - The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is acting on online dating scams after receiving more than 2100 complaints in 2011. Australians were cheated out of $21M by online dating scams last year, up from $15M in 2010. The ACCC has released guidelines that call on dating websites to clearly issue warnings and information about fraudsters as well as publishing examples of scams.
See full article at Herald Sun
Mark Brooks: The ACCC is very active on the issue of scamming in Australia. The Aussie idating industry and the ACCC formed these guidelines for dating sites. Should dating sites in the USA and UK (and beyond) do similar?