'Virtual cupids' duped dating website members, FTC suit says; company settles
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A company that operates 18 dating websites has agreed to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that claims it duped users to persuade them to become paid members with communications from “virtual cupids” who appeared to be real people.
JDI Dating Ltd. agreed to stop using fake profiles and will pay $616,165 to settle the case without admitting wrongdoing, the National Law Journal reports. It will also change its billing methods. The company’s websites include cupidswand.com, flirtcrowd.com, and findmelove.com.
According to the FTC suit (PDF), users with free memberships would get emails telling them other users in their area had sent them a “wink” or otherwise expressed interest. “In many instances,” the suit says, “the communications consumers receive are not from actual users of defendants’ online dating service, but rather are from ‘virtual cupids’—that is, fake users set up by defendants who communicate with consumers in the same way that actual users would.”
Often the free user could not reply or access information unless he or she upgraded to a paying membership. The only indication that a communication was from a “virtual cupid” was a “VC” logo, which couldn’t be seen in many instances without the paid membership, the suit says.
The suit also said the company automatically renewed paid memberships at the end of the contract term unless the consumer canceled the subscription at least 48 hours before. The renewal information was not “clearly and conspicuously” disclosed, the suit said.
Longwood, Florida, lawyer Lawrence Walters represented the company. “JDI Dating has not admitted any wrongdoing in this matter,” he told the National Law Journal, “but was happy to reach a resolution of the issues that was satisfactory to all parties.”
