Just when you get comfortable with the Internet again, a new story about a hacking disaster makes headlines. This time, a hacker on a dark web forum called “Hell” claims to have sold the email addresses and plaintext passwords of over 27 million users of dating site Mate1.com.

Last year, Hell made headlines when a hacker posted the personal details and sexual preferences of almost 4 million users of the hookup site Adult Friend Finder. The data dump was discovered months after the hack actually happened, forcing Adult Friend Finder to fess up about the breach.

Motherboard obtained a small sample of the stolen email addresses and passwords. Out of 500 addresses, 498 were linked to accounts on Mate1.com. According to its website, Mate1 has over 36.5 million users.

“Their server was compromised and the MySQL database was dumped,” the anonymous hacker told Motherboard. “I had shell/command access to their server.” The hacker claims to have obtained 40 million accounts initially, then whittled that number down by weeding out the bot logins. “They all had a common password pattern,” they said.

The database of poached user info was offered for 20 bitcoin on Hell (around $8,700) although it’s not clear if that was the actual selling price.

How did it happen? Motherboard found that Mate1 was shockingly open to such an attack. A reporter for the site clicked “forgotten password” on the login page and was sent a full, plaintext password via email. Mate1 made no attempt to conceal the password in any way.

The threat here isn't just that users’ dating accounts may now be compromised. A second danger comes from the fact that victims may have used the same passwords across multiple websites, potentially leaving accounts on Gmail, Amazon - anything, really - now open to attack. Anyone who purchased the database could test their newly-acquired passwords on more valuable accounts, and given the high number of credentials the hacker claims to have obtained, there’s a real chance that a significant number will indeed compromise accounts on other websites.  

The first step, if you have an account with Mate1.com, is to change your password there. You’ll also want to update any accounts that share the same password and check to make sure they haven’t been tampered with.  

This hack won’t make news the way the Ashley Madison hack did (catch up here, here, and here if you missed that story), but it serves as yet another reminder that digital security is a subject to be taken seriously.

For more information on this dating service you can read our full review of Mate1.

Update 2019-05-19: Please note that these coupons have expired and there are currently no coupon codes available for the Jewish dating service JDate.

What JDate is now offering is up to 25% off a 3 and 6 month subscription (as of the last time we checked which is January 16, 2018).

Depending on the subscription term length, JDate subscriptions are as low as $19.99 a month. This sale could expiry at any time so act soon if you are thinking of joining. When you decide to upgrade your free JDate account the sale prices will be presented to you at that time.

JDate does offer extra promotions every now and then. When these discounts are available, this post will be updated with more information on how to use them. To find out more about this popular Jewish dating service you can read our review of JDate. User reviews and comments of JDate are also accessible from this page.

Last month on the Canadian TV show The Disruptors, an unlikely interview took place between host Bruce Croxton and Markus Frind, the founder of popular online dating site Plenty of Fish. (Broxton was the founder of dating site Lavalife, which raked in members until POF’s free service hit the market.)

For the first time, the two former rivals were sitting down together to discuss the current state of the dating industry, and the history of their two companies.

Broxton noted the quick success of POF, which because of its free service, quickly gained a lot of users – many of whom hadn’t tried online dating previously. Typically, dating sites made their money through selling subscriptions to members, but POF tried a different model to attract a larger audience, and it worked. Instead of selling subscriptions, the site made its money by selling ad space. After all, they had an engaged audience.

At its peak and before its sale in 2004, Lavalife had over four hundred employees. Frind launched POF in 2003 and operated the service alone from his apartment for the first five years, without hiring another employee despite the service’s rapid growth. He managed to turn it into the largest dating site in the world by focusing on the US market (even though he was based in Canada), and by keeping the service free despite the naysayers.

Frind’s experience wasn’t in the dating industry when he first thought of the idea for POF. In the interview, he admitted that he just needed to learn a new programming language and the best way to do that would be through creating a dating website.

Croxton was complimentary in the interview, admitting that Frind was incredibly innovative in the dating space, despite the endless number of dating apps launched in the last few years claiming to change the online dating industry. “I find it ironic because many of the tech ideas on the show really emphasize that it’s not about the technology anymore because you can be up and running very quickly, it’s really a marketing barrier to entry. But you were pioneering that back in 2003,” Croxon said.

Frind Agreed, noting that he sold his company (for $800 million) because he was tired: “There isn’t really much innovation in the dating space; the features we have today are the same features we had five years ago. It just got kind of boring and I wanted to do something new.”

You can watch the whole interview here. To find out more about POF you can read our review on Plenty of Fish.

Tinder has released a new update for users to help improve the photo selection process and enhance messaging options.

The update is a result of one of Tinder’s most requested features: the ability to upload profile photos to the app directly from your camera roll. The old version of the app pulled photos from Facebook only, which didn’t give users much flexibility. Instead of being able to pull photos from their camera roll specifically for the dating app, they would have to post photos to their Facebook profile (and advertise their flirtatious Tinder selfies to all their friends), or try to get around the problem by creating a fake Facebook profile (not so easy to do), or adding “private” photo albums.

Now, users can pull photos directly from their camera rolls, bypassing Facebook. And to enhance this feature, Tinder has made cards and photos larger on the screen.

While this comes as a relief to many Tinder fans, another issue has been created. Tinder already has a challenge with some users creating fake profiles to scam other users, but the fact that every user has to tie their account to a real Facebook account made things a bit more secure. Now with the latest update, it’s much easier to post fake photos, so there might be a backlash with the current security measures.

Co-founder of Scamalytics Dan Winchester noted that this is good news for scammers, because it reduces the obstacle of having to create a fake Facebook profile. “Scammers almost universally rely on faking their identity in order to execute their scams. On a photo dating app like Tinder, clearly the photo is one of the key things they need to fake...adding direct from camera roll makes life even easier for scammers, and Tinder will want to balance the undoubted appeal of this feature with users against the increased security risk introduced into their platform.”

Another important feature in the new update concerns messaging. With a nod to Facebook features, Tinder is allowing you to “like” a message by tapping a green heart that appears next to a message you receive. iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users can also use 3D touch to preview links sent within messages. And yes, emojis will now be available in larger format – just to make things more fun.

Tinder has also teamed up with GIPHY to allow users to exchange GIFs with their matches. (And yes, there are millions of your favorite GIFS  - including one of a Kristin Wiig character from Saturday Night Live and numerous cute kittens, in case you were wondering about the options.) To use a GIF, you can select the blue “GIF” button found at the bottom left of the chat interface.

To find out more about this dating app, please read our review of Tinder.

Imagine you're a recent college graduate. You're excited, nervous, naïve, courageous. The whole world is in front of you, waiting to be explored.

Then reality sets in. Leaving college means finding a job, owing rent, dealing with health insurance, and paying off student loans. Before long, you're daydreaming about the blissful days before the cap and gown.

Sound familiar? Online dating can be a similar experience. You sign up with all the excitement and naivete of that new college grad, but over time you become disillusioned. Messages go unanswered. Mutual matches aren't made. Dates are postponed and canceled. What good is online dating if you aren't actually going on dates?

There may be very real reasons you're not getting the dates you hoped for – some obvious, others more obscure. Before you give up on it for good, take a look at these 5 reasons online dating might not be working for you.

1. You're not ready for it. If your last relationship is still fresh in your mind, it may be too soon to jump into online dating. It's unhealthy to start something new before you've healed from the old, despite what they say about getting back on the horse. Take time off to focus on yourself and feel solid in your singlehood, then try online dating again.
2. You're just going through the motions. Maybe everyone you know is on Tinder, so you decided to get Tinder. Or maybe all your closest friends are in serious relationships, so you feel pressured to settle down. Neither of those is a good reason to join an online dating service. If you're doing it because you think you have to, not because you want to, dates can tell that your heart isn't in it. Instant attraction killer.
3. You're not trying hard enough. No one wants to look desperate, but putting in zero effort is not the answer. Think Goldilocks – not too much, not too little, just right. An empty profile is a turn-off. One blurry bathroom selfie doesn't cut it. And if your idea of a smooth opening line is “hey,” you're in for a rude awakening.
4. You're unapproachable. Your dating profile should be inviting, not alarming. If you're writing a laundry list of things you don't like, don't want, and won't stand for, prospective dates will be scared away. Instead of focusing on the negatives, write about what you do like and are looking for. Just be careful that you don't veer into totally unrealistic territory, or you'll make yourself unapproachable in a different way.
5. You're hiding your real self. You want to craft the perfect profile, but it's pointless if your idea of “perfect” doesn't match who you really are. Let your real self shine through, even the bits you think are geeky or weird. The right partner will be more attracted to that profile than the sanitized version you thought you should write.

A recent article in news website Refinery29 explored a much-ignored topic in dating: the fact that now, the word “dating” is almost a dirty word, at least among those actually doing it.

In the article, the author argued – singles using dating apps and online dating sites don’t like to use the word “dating” to describe what they are doing, but prefer to use a more casual term, like “hanging out” or “Netflix and chill.” But if we are honest with ourselves – dating is exactly what we are doing. So, why not call a spade a spade?

Over the past few years, there has been a growing aversion to using the word “dating” to describe interactions between people who meet on Tinder, POF, OkCupid, Bumble or Hinge. There is little to no mention of the word date when two people message back and forth, because for some reason, that sounds so formal. It sounds like a promise, an admission that we are looking for a relationship, which is too much pressure. Besides, “dating” could end badly, and people could get hurt. It puts emotions front and center, when people would rather put their emotions aside in order to hook up or see who they can meet next.

Since when did a date turn into something that it’s not?

Dating is all about getting to know someone, to see if they might be a romantic fit. What we have been doing slowly over the past few years in “dating culture” is to take the emotion out of it. In other words, make it less stressful and serious. After all, if all you want to do is hang out, have sex, or “see what happens,” why call it a date?

But here’s what Refinery29’s author presents: we all know what we are doing on Tinder. We are seeing who we might want to be with – physically, romantically, in a relationship. We don’t want to shake hands and call it a night. We want something intimate from the exchange – hence, it’s dating.

There’s something else going on, though. We are afraid of actually connecting with someone and getting hurt. We hide behind screens. We assume that there will always be someone else out there, someone better than the person in front of us, or prettier, or more successful, or better in bed. We are always looking. Which means we are never present in the moment.

And that’s where the magic happens, in the present moment. That’s the only place it lives.

So instead of swiping and moving on, hanging and chilling out, ask someone out on a date. Call it a date. Really take the time to get to know your date. Then see if your experience with “dating” changes.