A bipartisan congressional investigation into romance scams on Match Group platforms finds the problem widespread and costly: romance frauds cost Americans at least $1.3bn a year, and internal Match documents show Tinder had not updated many machine‑learning models for years, reducing its ability to detect evolving threats. Match’s data through Q3 2025 showed nearly 1.5 million suspected scammers or bad actors on Tinder and Hinge had matched with at least one user and about 500,000 of those exchanged contact information. The report includes victim testimony - one woman on Plenty of Fish lost about $100,000 in cryptocurrency after persistent contact, pressure for money, and repeated number changes by the scammer - illustrating how emotional manipulation and technological gaps combine to produce heavy financial and emotional harm.
Match Group has rolled out new defenses since the inquiry, including US-wide video selfie verification on Tinder and an AI model introduced in early 2025 to detect fraudulent profiles, but senators say those steps were overdue given the scale of scams. Lawmakers are pushing for tougher, proactive measures as criminal networks adopt AI, and have proposed a central reporting portal to streamline victim assistance and law enforcement response. Match disputes the report’s characterization of its historical investment, saying significant safety advances were already underway.
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