Legal

Scammers stole more than $1.4 million from users of popular dating apps like Tinder, Grindr and Bumble, among others. Dubbed “CryptoRom” by cybersecurity research firm Sophos, the attackers feigned romantic interest with victims to build trust, and then lured them into downloading fake cryptocurrency apps.

According to reports, these scammers used Apple’s Enterprise Development platform to push the fake cryptocurrency apps, which gave the victims a sense that they were legitimate, but in reality, this allowed scammers to bypass the normal app review process. 

The CryptoRom attackers set up fake profiles on dating apps and strike up conversations with users, later moving them to messaging apps. After a time, the subject of cryptocurrency is introduced into the conversation, and the scammer asks the victim to install the fake crypto trading app to make an investment. At first, the victim makes money and is allowed to withdraw from their account, providing a false sense of security. Soon after, they are asked to make a more substantial contribution, and if they do, the scammers not only refuse their withdrawal requests, but blackmail them to invest more and take the money they already paid if they refuse.

The FTC in mid-September issued a statement urging people using LGBTQ+ dating apps to be cautious amid the growing number of scammers who operate on these apps.

Apps like Grindr and Feeld were named in particular as the FTC warned of an increasing number of scammers who seek explicit photos and then use them to extort money. According to Consumer Reports, the attackers pose as interested romantic partners and chat with intended victims. These scammers send explicit photos quickly, seeing who responds with a similar photo in return.

The next part plays out like an episode of Black Mirror, where if the victim does send an explicit photo in hopes of connecting in person, the attacker quickly turns on them and uses blackmail to extort money. The attackers threaten to send the photo to the victim’s personal networks, including family and friends or even an employer unless they pay (usually via gift card). 

Shares for dating conglomerate Match Group soared in early September, following the company’s new listing to the S&P 500. As of September 20th, Match Group will replace Perrigo Company, according to an announcement by the Dow Jones Indices.

Stocks tend to rise after being added to the S&P 500, as they become a “must-buy” for index funds, which track stocks on the benchmark index. Shares of Match Group are up more than 50 percent since this time last year with after-hour gains according to CNBC. This is more than a year after the separation from its former parent company IAC in July of 2020.

News of the Match Group’s rising share price also follows Apple’s announcement that it will relax its app store rules, which Match Group, Spotify and a number of other companies have been fighting for over a year. Apple agreed that the companies can provide a link to their websites from the apps for users to sign up for subscriptions, allowing the developer to bypass Apple’s cut, which was anywhere from 15 to 30 percent of sales. 

Match Group and Bumble CEOs

The CEOs of dating companies Match Group and Bumble have created relief funds for people in Texas affected by the new abortion ban.

The new law, also known as SB8, prevents women from having abortions after six weeks, long before most women know they are pregnant and effectively banning them altogether. In addition, citizens have been empowered and incentivized to bring civil lawsuits against anyone involved in assisting a woman getting an abortion, including doctors, family members, and even rideshare drivers. As a result, the female CEOs of two dating companies based in Texas – Match Group and Bumble – are fighting back on behalf of women by setting up funds to help people receive care out of state.

According to CNBC, Match Group’s CEO Shar Dubey announced that she will personally finance and help the company’s Texas-based employees receive out of state care if they need it. Bumble’s Whitney Wolfe Herd announced the company will create a fund for people in Texas who need access to care and send the money to organizations that support reproductive rights. 

The Vatican and Catholic Churches in the U.S. are bracing for more of its clergy members to be outed for using gay dating app Grindr.

The Pillar published a report that based on “legally obtained” data there seem to be “at least 16 mobile devices [that] emitted signals from the hookup app Grindr on at least four days between March to October 2018 within the non-public areas of the Vatican City State, while 16 other devices showed use of other location-based hookup or dating apps, both heterosexual and homosexual, on four or more days in the same time period.”

The Pillar maintains that this information was obtained through commercially available app signal data, not through hacking, and that it pulled data from rectories and other clerical housing from 2018 through 2020.

Apple has pulled a new dating app for unvaccinated people from its store, stating that the app was spreading misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines.

According to PC Magazine, the app “Unjected” was initially reported to Apple by Bloomberg, who contacted the company when the dating app added a new social feature where users could publish their own posts. Many Unjected users began to add content containing conspiracy theories and misinformation about the pandemic and vaccines. This violated app store rules, which bans entertainment and gaming apps from using Covid-19 as a theme.

Apple told PC Magazine that Unjected broke other app store rules, too, namely by telling its users to avoid certain Covid-related words like “vaccine,” “jabbed,” and “microchip” because this might lead to the app being flagged and potentially banned from the store, which eventually it was.