Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says
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Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says
#2Unrelated to the post, but I am just wondering how come NYTimes still able to detect the incognito mode or if you are using private browser like Firefox focus
Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says
#3Unrelated to the post, but I am just wondering how come NYTimes still able to detect the incognito mode or if you are using private browser like Firefox focus
It's an arms race. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/google-chrome-i...
Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says
#4The FTC needs to come down hard on this. Extremely hard.
This isn't just a trick, it's outright fraud. They're playing with people's emotions and not just giving them nothing - they're abusing people's most basic need of feeling loved.
Think about how vulnerable people become when they're searching for love. And then this corporate giant comes in with an army of psychologists, A/B tests, and analysts to figure out how to best extract their pound of flesh and offer nothing in return.
Forgive me for saying this, but fuck Match.com. The FTC should evaporate half their liquid assets / market cap in fines.
Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says
#5Unrelated, but I'm thinking about using one or more dating sites. Which ones do people here use, and what are your thoughts/observations?
Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says
#6The FTC needs to come down hard on this. Extremely hard. This isn't just a trick, it's outright fraud. They're playing with people's emotions and not just giving them nothing - they're abusing people's most basic need of feeling loved. Think about how vulnerable people become when they're searching for love. And then this corporate giant comes in with an army of psychologists, A/B tests, and analysts to figure out ho…
I agree and will add that all dating apps do things like this. They prey on lonely people using false hope.
Tinder even introduced paid “boosts” (pay to be shown to users who otherwise might never see you), which is identical to a slot machine.
Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says
#7TFA is a bit imprecise with the wording, so it's not exactly clear to me, but from what I understand, there's two different things that could be happening.
In one case, a dating site company internally creates fake profiles and/or operates bots which cause the fake profiles to interact with real potential users in an attempt to get them to sign up. This is like what AM did on their site, where there weren't actually very many women on the site at all.
Alternatively, a dating site can be rife with scammers who have themselves created fake profiles on the site and are messaging potential victims. For example, I read that Tinder used to be particularly rife with bot accounts that would message obviously bot-y greetings to attempt to get a user to click an external link (to what end, I'm not sure).
In the second case, dating sites may have a somewhat symbiotic relationship with the scammers, who create appealing looking profiles and make the site seem to have more activity than it really does. But the real users are potentially being targeted for fraud / scams, so this is just as--if not even more--egregious than the false marketing fake account scam, because at least the company bots aren't trying to convince you to share your bank account number.
It's not entirely clear to me if this is a case of #1 or #2, but it seems like it's #2. And because Match wouldn't even let potential users read the message (or see who it was from?) before signing up, the bot accounts would provide a significant signup boost to users thinking they had a potential match waiting for them on the site.
If it is #2, then the immediate question is how prevalent was this, and did Match take action to close bot accounts that were reported / flagged as such. Any social network will have at least some bad actors, and the platform should be judged on how they respond and defend against those actors, not whether they existed at all. I think TFA does not provide enough information to reach a conclusion.
Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says
#8Unrelated, but I'm thinking about using one or more dating sites. Which ones do people here use, and what are your thoughts/observations?
I met my wife on Tinder 6 years ago, but YMMV
Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says
#9Unrelated, but I'm thinking about using one or more dating sites. Which ones do people here use, and what are your thoughts/observations?
I've had great luck with Scruff, and have had friends who have done well with bumble
Re: Match.com Used Fake Ads to Swindle Users, F.T.C. Says
#10Unrelated, but I'm thinking about using one or more dating sites. Which ones do people here use, and what are your thoughts/observations?
Short answer? They are all trash and the space is ripe for disruption. The best of the bunch is probably Hinge, Bumble, and Coffee Meets Bagel.
But like I said, getting a date off these apps is like pulling teeth. I've reverted to asking girls out in person at coffee shops, social gatherings, etc. Even if you get rejected, it at least makes for a good story.