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A Dating Site Catfished Its Own Users And Got Fined $616,000

Attracted to your matches? Too bad, because they don't exist.

At this point, almost everyone with an online dating profile assumes, until meeting in person, that other users could be anybody -- but if you were on JDI Dating, they could be nobody.

The network, which has 8.5 million users across "18 sites and counting," created fake profiles and sent b.s. messages to lure members into upgrading to premium memberships, according to the U.S. government. In order to message these "hot singles" back, users (y'know, real ones) would allegedly have to fork over up to $30/month.

In response, the Federal Trade Commission has punished JDI with a $616,165 fine. The money will reportedly be returned to defrauded users, so they can spend it on dates with prospects who aren't works of fiction. Also, JDI must warn users that such messages are from bots, not babes.

Furthermore, the FTC reports that JDI had renewed users' premium memberships "without their consent," which was just "[a]dding insult to injury." The company told NBC News that it hadn't done anything wrong, but welcomed the end of its legal ordeal.

This marks the first FTC crackdown on a dating site. And it also marks another milestone...

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