General News

An article at Consumer Affairs tells the story of Annette (not her real name) who met someone online at eHarmony and was ultimately scammed her life savings, over $37,000. The scammer named John, who she met online and fell in love with had reportedly traveled to Nigeria where his luggage and $45,000 in travellers checks got confiscated. Everyday his situation seemed to get worse (including the kidnapping of his daughter) which prompted him to ask Annette to send him another few thousand dollars. John used guilt in part to motivate Annette to send him money including comments about "if you loved me ..." and dealing with God and the church.

I really feel sorry for Annettes situation. Some people can be real vulnerable when they are looking for love and this is what the scammers are relying on. Annette did have several warning signs though. They were:

• Someone requested money from her who she had only chatted online and over the phone with. She had never actually met face-to-face with him.
• John was in Nigeria were a large number of dating scams seem to originate from.
• He had bad grammar and spelling.
• She did have doubts.
• According to eHarmony they did warn her about John who was discovered to be using a stolen credit card. This warning came 3 days before she sent the first $1,300. It is unclear in the article if she did see and ignored the warning.

eHarmony does offer some safety tips too its members to make sure their experience is successful and safe (see full list here). Under the heading "Always Use Your Best Judgment" they warn members:

eHarmony works hard to screen out dishonest applicants, but assessing a match's truthfulness and honesty is ultimately your responsibility. Don't ignore any facts that seem inconsistent or 'off.' Trust your instincts—if something doesn't feel right, close communication or if on a date, leave. You're in control of the entire process, so you can choose a comfortable pace for your relationship.

Watch out for someone who:

• Asks for money
• Asks inappropriate questions
• Wants to speed up the pace beyond your comfort level
• Tells stories with inconsistencies, some which may sound grandiose
• Gives vague answers to specific questions
• Urges you to compromise your principles
• Constantly blames others for troubles in his or her life
• Insists on getting overly close, overly fast.

The above tips are good for all dating sites (and social networks too). Remember this was an extreme example of what can happen to someone who is scammed. Above all I would recommend to trust your instincts, If the situation doesn't feel right then, it probably isn't.

Find out more of the story on ConsumerAffairs.com.

An independent film called Single: a documentary film was released recently which looks at the lives at some of the 100 million Americans who are single. While I haven't seen the movie, there is a trailer available. The trailer runs over 4 minutes and it does give a good impression of what the film is about.

The website Tin Ape, did a review of this film in which they summarized:

Single delves into a plethora of issues about being single in America, from the role of the burgeoning independence of women to the social stigma of men, all backed up by the candid testimonies of single 30 somethings and knowledgeable sociologists.

Tin Ape also mentions:

The film also does not attempt to solve the “problem” of being single.

This is a different spin from most of the other media available on singles found on the internet. Most similar type of videos or articles tend to try and help the "single" become a "couple" which inadvertently casts a negative light on being single. The movie is available for purchase on their website for $14.95 US.

See the full film review at Tin Ape and the website for the actual movie can be found here.

The Unofficial eHarmony Blog got a peek at eHarmony’s June advertiser kit which had an interesting promotional page. On it eHarmony stated they receive 3.2 to 3.5 million unique visitors with 350 - 500 million page views per month. With this traffic, they receive 12 - 15 thousand new registrants per day. From this, 1 in 20 site visitors will subscribe to eHarmony and these memberships refresh every 3 to 4 months.

From the information above, I calculated that eHarmony receives between 600 – 750 in new paid members a day or 219,000 – 273,750 paid members a year. This means at any one time on eHarmony there are between 72,000 and 90,000 paid members (if you take the 4 month member average refresh rate).

I’ll have to update my Online Dating Statistics & Facts page with this new information. For a more detail view of eHarmony, try reading our review.

According to this article, a recent worldwide survey of adults by Harris Interactive shows that 23 percent of people go online for dating, while 50 percent use social networking sites and 72 percent use the internet for gaming.

Only two of these activities generate any real income for investors besides online advertising. The next big website will be one that can combine all 3 of these online activities successfully.

TechCrunch has a short article about a new DNA dating service called Gene Partner. The twist with this dating site is that they will perform their DNA matching service for only $199, which is a lot less than the $1000 or so required by other similar services. While the cost is just 20% of what the competitors charge I feel this price is still out of the range most singles are willing to spend. They need to bring the price down to the $60 range before these type of dating sites become anything more than a novelty.

I'm not sure why TechCrunch called the article Ok, We Have Our First DNA-Based Dating Service: GenePartner. This dating service is definitely not the first DNA matching service (see story). They even admitted to this fact in the article. Seems like a cheap promotional stunt to generate visitors. I'm surprised at TechCrunch, they are better than that.

India’s Dishtv, a direct to home television provider with over 200 channels and 3.5 million subscribers has announced a new collaboration with India’s largest matrimonial service, Shaadi.com. Called Shaadi Active, this service will allow TV viewers to actively search for a bride or groom from the millions of profiles available on Shaadi.com. Numerous search criteria will be available to select from including caste, age and profession.

For more information on Shaadi.com, check out our review.