INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
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Match.com's owner said federal regulators had "misrepresented" its internal
processes
The owner of dating app Match.com is being sued by US regulators for allegedly tricking people into subscribing to
its service.Federal Trade Commission (FTC) documents detail what it called "deception" and "unfair practices".It claims Match.com used faked
responses to dating profiles to tempt people into paying
Match Inc said the FTC was making "outrageous" claims and that it would "vigorously" defend itself in court.In its lengthy court filing, the
FTC's central allegation is that Match.com sent users "fake love interest ads" to tempt people into paying monthly fees.While Match.com
can be used for free, only those who pay can see who has sent them a message after viewing their profile.Many of the fake responses came
from accounts Match suspected were fraudulent and run by scammers and bots, said the FTC
Subscribers did not get messages from these accounts, it claimed.Anyone subscribing in order to respond to these supposed "love interest"
messages would find a "scammer on the other end", it said.The FTC added that although Match took action against suspected dodgy accounts and
regularly shut them down, this action would mean anyone subscribing to find out who was interested in them would be told the profile had
vanished."In either event," claims the FTC, "the consumer was left with a paid subscription to Match.com, as a result of a false
advertisement."In a detailed statement posted to Match's media pages, the company said the FTC was "wildly overstating" the impact of
It also accused regulators of "cherry-picking" data and "misrepresenting" internal emails to bolster its case.Match Inc said it had
developed technology that blocked 96% of fake or bot accounts within 24 hours of them being created
It said: "The issues the FTC is focusing on have either been taken grossly out of context or permanently eliminated by Match."We believe the
FTC's allegations are baseless and we look forward to proving that in court," it added.
