I was talking to someone at an event and I caught something on TV out of the corner of my eye about dating apps on a local news station. I can't find the exact video (with the local news hosts reading the report) but their parent network seems to have run a series of warnings on dating apps. Here is one:
http://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/dating-apps-warning-users-of-scams/
"Dating apps warning users of romance scams."
"... Federal Trade Commission says romance scams reported in the U.S. result in higher losses than any other type of scam, with over $300 million in reported losses each year since 2020. ..."
[embedded video]
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The local news story warned, "Never send someone money that you haven't met in person."
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Still looking for the local story but I found this:
http://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sandiego/news/press-releases/fbi-warns-of-online-dating-scamshttps://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sandiego/news/press-releases/fbi-warns-of-online-dating-scams
"FBI Warns of Online Dating Scams." (old news from 2016)
The dating app space et al, has been largely silent on this issue. They seem more likely to stay arms-length away from the topic - perhaps out of some fear that if they talk about the presence of crooks on their site they will expose their reputations to the risk of being known as a fraud-prevalent service.
So a shift to proactively warning about bad actors and suggesting safety measures seems like a good evolution in their policies.
The linked new story, however, is almost useless. It's more a puff-scare piece than an informative guide to avoid scams.
Note that they only included "brands" that are owned by one media group. And note that Seeking was not mentioned. In addition, the interviews were - well - stupid. Just a bunch of randos saying "Yeah, let's be careful!"
The second link went to an empty page for me, so maybe you can repost?
It will be interesting (or disappointing?) to watch over the next few weeks or months.
Life is good
The Cat
They reissue the warnings every Valentine's Day to remind lonely people not to get desperate.
https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/safety-resources/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/romance-scams
They also recently warned about our favorite 'pig butchering' scam
https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/albuquerque/news/press-releases/fbi-media-alert-annual-fbi-holiday-scam-warning-for-new-mexico-includes-pig-butchering