Online Daters v Match.com
Frustrated Online Dates Claim They are Victims of Fraud
Match.com, a unit of IAC/Interactive Corp, is accused in a federal lawsuit of motivating members into renewing their subscriptions through bogus romantic e-mails sent out by company employees. In some instances, the suit contends, people on the Match payroll even went on sham dates with subscribers as a marketing scheme.
The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, came as growth in the online dating industry has slowed, although Web matchmaking still remains a big business.
The Match lawsuit was filed early November 2005 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by plaintiff Matthew Evans, who contends he went out with a woman he met through the site who turned out to be nothing more than "date bait" working for the company.
The relationship went nowhere, according to his suit. Evans says Match set up the date for him because it wanted to keep him from pulling the plug on his subscription and was hoping he'd tell other potential members about the attractive woman he met through the service, according to his attorney.
Evans' attorney said his client found out about the alleged scam after the woman he dated confessed she was employed by Match. The lawsuit also claims the company violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, a law best known for being used in prosecuting organized crime.
The suit also charges that when a customer's subscription was expiring, Match.com produced fake responses to customers, suggesting another person had an interest in meeting them in order to encourage them to resubscribe.
The suit represents growing reports of disappointment among the tens of millions of customers of the online matchmaking industry.
