Don’t we have enough to worry about in online dating?!

Fake Profile

Online dating agency ‘created fake profiles’
HELEN WESTERMAN
November 6, 2009 – 1:32PM

An online dating agency created fake profiles and used them to “flirt” with registered users, Australia’s consumer watchdog has revealed.

Redhotpie.com.au, which describes itself as a dating site for “singles and swingers”, has been accused of misleading conduct by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, for creating and publishing fictional profiles on its website.

The profiles were used to send “flirt” messages to registered users. The site claims to have more than 1.6 million members and features dating advice from author Bessie Bardot.

But the ACCC said the operators of redhotpie,Mark Semaan and Maxwell James McGuire, falsely represented that members could socialise with – and potentially meet – every profile that was viewable on the site, “when it was not the case”.

It does not reveal how many profiles may be fake.

A directions hearing has been set for December 10 in Perth’s Federal Court. Source: www.theage.com.au

Not too far behind is a site that personally I love (because it worked for me!), match.com. But I can say I see the point of those who are complaining.

Match.com Posts Fake Profiles, Man Sues For Humiliation

That’s what happened to New Yorker Sean McGinn, who’s suing dating site Match.com for keeping around profiles of former users so that it would look like the site had far more romantic prospects than it did. McGinn is suing over deception, because he sent out many emails to profiles that were essentially dead. Match.com caused him “humiliation and disappointment,” and he wants to stop Match from hurting the feelings of singles “who feel rejected when their e-mails get no reply.”

For some people, it’s a big leap to start online dating, and knowing that you may be signing up for even more rejection (however genuine) is a total deterrent.

So aside from McGinn, I know plenty of people with horror stories about love and the laptop. What’s your best and worst online dating story?

I am a big fan of online dating. I think it is the most efficient way to find a match more compatible than you can find in a bar, grocery store, at work….

But these companies need to be careful about their practices. It’s easy enough to have your heart broken!

Match.com – Everyone knows someone who met on Match.com.

Now it’s your turn. Search Now!