Fake dating sites: instead of people, you’ll find paid moderators

Chapters of the article

• How it works
• AI makes work easier
• How to spot a fake profile
• How to cancel membership on a fake dating site
• Summary

How it works

These dating sites most often operate on a paid membership basis. In this case, you need to fill in a registration form and create a profile on the dating site. The first impression of this site is usually very professional, including profiles of other users that look real. With the creation of your profile, you will also be offered a membership option, usually at a promotional or trial price. Once you pay for the membership, you will be taken to the dating site itself. Unfortunately, you won’t find potential dating targets here, but only inactive fake profiles.

Often you can also meet paid moderators. In this case, however, this is already a very immoral practice and the amount of money you leave on the dating site will be much higher. The way this scam works is that you make contact with an interesting counterpart. In reality, however, this is not a real person, but a paid moderator who manages several profiles in this way. You then usually have to pay not only for the membership of the dating site, but also for the messages sent, for example.

You can find a number of job offers for moderators of similar dating sites here. People who have experience with this job describe that their main task is to try to trick men into falling in love with them. They then try to keep these men in the chat room as long as possible in order to get as much money out of them as possible (usually for credits that are paid for sending messages). At the same time, they often promise the men a personal meeting, which they keep postponing and refusing to move to another (unpaid) chat. Poorly paid workers are thus forced to lie, pretend and play on the emotions of many people. Several such moderators are replaced on one chat room, even in one day.

AI makes the job easier

In today’s era of rapid development of artificial intelligence, it is no surprise that it is expanding into all kinds of areas. Fake dating sites are no exception, as AI is improving their function and can extract money from more and more people. In fact, artificial intelligence can automate fraudulent practices in several sophisticated ways:

• Profile generation: AI algorithms can generate convincing-looking fake profiles complete with credible photos and personal details. These profiles can also be modified to match the preferences of their intended targets, making the scam even more effective.
• Automated messaging: AI-powered bots can initiate and maintain conversations with users. Moreover, as natural language processing (NLP) technology improves, they are becoming more adept at mimicking human conversation, making it increasingly difficult to realize that we are not communicating with real people.
• Behavioural analysis: artificial intelligence can analyse user behaviour and determine the most effective times and methods to engage in conversation. This allows fraudsters to optimize their strategies to increase engagement and, in turn, their chances of monetizing the interaction.

• Sentiment analysis: using sentiment analysis, AI can assess the emotional state of users based on the content and tone of their messages. This information allows bots or human operators to tailor their interactions and exploit users’ emotional vulnerability to elicit sympathy, interest or any other emotion that will lead to a user’s willingness to invest in the conversation.
• Scalability: artificial intelligence enables fraud automation on a scale that could not be achieved by human labor alone. In fact, with AI, thousands of fake profiles can be managed simultaneously.

How to spot a fake profile

1. Check the completed data: Real profiles usually contain detailed information about the person, including several photos, a completed CV and other personal details.
2. Verify photos: Use image retraction tools (such as Google Images) to check if profile pictures are stolen from elsewhere. If the same image appears on multiple websites or belongs to someone else, it is probably a fake profile.
3. Engage in conversation: real people respond to messages with personalized answers and engage in meaningful conversation. Be careful if responses seem too generic or robotic.
4. Request a video call: Designing a video call helps you confirm a person’s identity. If they refuse or come up with excuses, it could mean they are not who they say they are.
5. Watch out for warning signs: Watch out for the usual signs of fake profiles, such as excessive flattery, unusually quick declarations of love, refusal to switch platforms or postponing an in-person meeting.

How to cancel a membership on a fake dating site

If you find that you are communicating with a fake profile and the dating site is full of similar profiles, it is a scam and you will probably want to cancel your membership as soon as possible. The problem is that fake dating sites usually do not provide clear and precise rules for cancelling membership, so you will have to look in the terms and conditions where the cancellation method must be stated. However, it should be taken into account that the operators of fraudulent dating platforms often make the cancellation process difficult in various ways. You may be required to send the withdrawal by fax or by post to the provider’s address, which may be located anywhere in the world. Sometimes cancellation of the profile may be required directly through the service, but deleting the profile itself is not possible. In general, the best practice is to inform the provider by email of the cancellation of the subscription and have the message acknowledged.

Moreover, fake dating sites often operate on the principle of automatic subscription renewal. Therefore, it doesn’t matter if you only have a membership for a month. The amount will continue to be deducted and you really need to cancel your membership as soon as possible. However, according to Czech legislation, automatic renewal of subscriptions is not always allowed. The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic states that the legitimacy of this practice depends on how the information on automatic renewal is stated in the terms and conditions.

Thus, many clients find that even after they have stopped using a dating site, they still receive emails from the website operator or debt collection agencies. It is therefore important to make sure that you have actually cancelled the service. Some customers, after receiving such reminders, decide to pay the said amount to avoid problems. However, it is also possible to contact the operator or agency and refuse payment on the grounds that you consider their claim to be unjustified.

The foreign company must then obtain a judgment from a Czech court in order to recover payment for the use of the dating site. In many cases, this is not financially worthwhile for the dating sites, so they often rely on scaring their customers with a simple reminder. However, this practice may be unlawful and may not be enforceable.

In our practice, we have successfully employed the method of writing to the operator of a dating service on behalf of our client, expressing doubts about the legitimacy of automatic subscription renewals and rejecting the claims of the Swiss-based company. Thereafter, neither the dating service nor the collection agency contacted the client further.

Summary

Fake dating sites pose a significant risk to Internet users seeking romantic relationships online. These platforms exploit the trust of their members through paid memberships for which they offer interactions with fake profiles or paid moderators instead of real people. In the event that you find yourself on such a fake dating site, it is important to cancel your membership and watch out for automatic subscription renewals. Ultimately, it is crucial to protect your personal and financial security online and be wary of platforms that promise romantic relationships for money.