Popular dating apps add new features to help protect users

The Match Group, which owns some of the most popular dating apps, including Hinge, Plenty of Fish, Match, and Tinder, has announced that it will be strengthening protection for users. 

Reports show that online dating provides many opportunities for scammers and, in the last five years, people have reported losing a staggering $1.3 billion to romance scams.

In recent years, these numbers have skyrocketed and are now higher than any other fraud category, with losses of $547 million recorded in the last year alone. 

Even though dating apps have some protection under Communications Decency Act, Match Group now wants to get help from law enforcement and financial exploitation agencies. 

Buddy Loomis, senior director of Law Enforcement Operations and Investigations at Match Group said in a statement: “As a former detective and special agent, I know firsthand how scammers lure unsuspecting individuals into giving personal information and ultimately money – including preying on those looking for love or companionship. 

It’s the reason we are committed to investing in building the safety tools available to users by leveraging technology and resources that aim to help users protect themselves from the harms in the world around them and make safer connections.”

Match Group says it will help to protect its users by pushing alerts that will help them identify suspicious behaviors and potential scams so they can avoid them. 

In the announcement, Match Group said that some of the most important additions to its service include selfie verification, video chat, and detection of certain language which will trigger popup messages with warnings and safety tips for the user. 

Match Group said: “Make sure to verify your profile with Photo Verification and also look out for the verification check on your matches to help confirm they are the person in their profile pictures. You can also set up video chats before meeting in person to confirm your match is the person you’ve been talking to. If your date can’t do any of these things, it’s a flag.”

Some other recommendations include staying on the app for as long as possible as it’s more secure and not sending any money or financial information to any matches.