COVID-19 pandemic and its associated risk with the traditional dates and in-person meetups have given importance to the idea of online dating. Almost 3 million swipes are recorded in a single day on Tinder, and the use of a messaging app called Hinge increased by 30%. However, as online dating may appear to be a safe way in COVID-19, it is not as secure it may seem. Dating apps are full of scammers that create fake profiles to catfish another person and obtain personal data. Because of the vulnerabilities, it becomes difficult for dating platforms to authenticate the identity of users, which may result in customers becoming victims.
Romance Scams: An Increasing Crime with Time
As much truth as it is, that true love is priceless; it is nearly impossible to deny that romance scams are also prevailing in this age. We can observe the dilemma of the situation from the statement of the Federal Trade Commission that says, “reported scams are merely frivolous, as many victims face humiliation on reporting the case to the authorities. Facebook and Instagram are the two favorite apps of youngsters, and the scams reported to FTC involve the name of the same two apps. Some of the romance scams cases reported in 2021 are:
65-year-old Women Tricked by Romance Scammer
After the death of her husband, a woman aged 65 fell victim to a love scammer. A fraudster approached the victim through Facebook, who pretended to be an army officer. They were involved in a distant relationship as the woman never met the scammer in person. The man requested the woman give him £7,500 so that he could leave the army and be with his family. The sufferer attempted to provide the wanted money, but the financial institution speculated on an irregular transaction and established a protocol alert to the regulatory authority. Afterward, the police notified the victim that it was a fraud.
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Dating Websites Require Robust IDV Now More Than Ever Before
To defeat the possible peril of romance scams, the dating websites must include authenticity badges like the blue ones on Twitter. Identity verification will guarantee that the individuals on the platform or chat room are genuine. It indicates that the dating apps have to follow complete steps to detect the true identities by kyc verification. Identity verification service would enable the platform to combat the unrequired threat and give consumers a frictionless dating experience.
Following are the parameters digital dating websites can get utilizing identity verification solutions:
Enhanced Defense Mechanism
By employing identity verification services, dating apps can give confidence to their customers that they are dealing with genuine persons. Unfortunately, several love scammers use fake biographies to manipulate people through digital courting. However, after using enhanced defense mechanisms, customers are less likely to be victimized by scammers.
Accountability
A Safer Dating Experience
ID document verification services can make dating websites trustworthy and credible. The online authentication method will assist them in registering legal daters while keeping the scammers far away from the apps. Moreover, it will aid them in mitigating the threat of fraud, giving the consumers a frictionless and seamless experience.
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