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Tinder Scam Promises Account Verification, But Actually Sells Porn (csoonline.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the bait-and-switch dept.

itwbennett writes: Tinder users should be on the lookout for Tinder profiles asking them to get "verified" and then sending them a link to a site called "Tinder Safe Dating." The service asks for credit card information, saying this will verify the user's age. Once payment information has been captured, the user is then signed up for a free trial of porn, which will end up costing $118.76 per month unless the service is cancelled. In Tinder's safety guidelines, the company warns users to avoid messages that contain links to third-party websites or ask money for an address.

29 comments

  1. Better have midgets by simcop2387 · · Score: 1

    It better be the best porn ever for $118/mo. Even if you are being scammed.

  2. Hey Symantec by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    stick your "community experience" up your ass,

    a security website that doesnt work without javascript ?
    proving once again Symantec know nothing about security.

  3. So by mt2mb4me · · Score: 1

    How many months did it take you to catch it subby?

  4. Re:Got the right market. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You beat me to it. They are just providing a needed service to all those desperate Tinder users.

  5. How does this work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I'm not sure how this ever works. You see it on your bill - even if you miss the first month, you can't miss seeing it for long. So then you dispute the charge and have future charges blocked. I don't see how the scammers come out with anything at the end of the day.

    1. Re:How does this work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm guessing not 100% of the population will go dispute past charges. Future charges blocked yes. IF they pay attention to their bill which I would bet not 100% of the population does...

    2. Re:How does this work? by taustin · · Score: 1

      The consumer gets their money back by law (over $50, at least). They get it back from the bank,. Getting the money back from the con artist is up to the bank. Normally, a credit card merchant sees the money in their account within a day or two. The card holder doesn't see the bill for up to a month. The only way the bank has to get money back from the con artist is to take it out of their account, which is empty long before the bank gets the chargeback.

      Yeah, they need to set up new merchant accounts every month or two, with new bank accounts. This can be done easily, quickly, and generally automatically.

    3. Re:How does this work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So then you dispute the charge and have future charges blocked.

      People rarely dispute a one-off charge when they realize they've been scammed. For example, those anti-virus programs that load on more spyware and the victim has to pay a support technician to remove it. Whereas demanding $118 every month is going to force a reaction from the victim and the scammer is left empty-handed. Greedy and stupid.

    4. Re:How does this work? by stoatwblr · · Score: 1

      "The consumer gets their money back by law (over $50, at least)."

      yup, The scammers made a mistake by putting the charge well over the clawback threshold. There's a reason most of them make it $10-20/month.

  6. in other news..the internet is still working by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    in other news..the internet is still working

  7. Incompetent scammers by lucm · · Score: 1

    From what I see in the linked article, the scammers use a very low quality profile picture, very pixelated. Either they used an iPhone camera or they're from Japan.

    --
    lucm, indeed.
  8. And this is a bad thing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Less likely to catch AIDS from pron.

  9. This has been the case for a while by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tinder has always rife with these kinds of scams, sometimes seems like every third person matched sends a large pasted paragraph with a bit.ly link at the end.

    1. Re:This has been the case for a while by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      Tinder has always rife with these kinds of scams, sometimes seems like every third person matched sends a large pasted paragraph with a bit.ly link at the end.

      And you know this because .....

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:This has been the case for a while by taustin · · Score: 1

      I'll bet it's not nearly as prevalent as it is on Craig's List. CL personals are literally nothing left but the scammers. They've even driven the prostitutes out.

  10. Well, do you at least get your money's worth? by ShooterNeo · · Score: 1

    $118 sounds like an absolutely massive set of porn collections. Just how much porn can you get for that price?

  11. D.va is actually samus! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Both have a super suit, both go into zero-suit mode sometimes, IT'S THE SAME PERSON.

    Wake up, this is real, d.va and samus are the same person

    1. Re: D.va is actually samus! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nothing like throwing a suit into a group and coming out with a hexakill.

  12. Um, duh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This has been happening to dating sites/apps for many years. I would know, because... forever alone.

  13. I use Cowboy Neal Safe Posting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It was free to get verified by "Cowbot Neal Safe Posting". To verify me I only had to supply a major credit card number along with my bank account number and my ATM PIN. Now when I'm posting here on Slashdot (as Anymouse Cowherd) I have a "Verified by Cowboy Neal" checkmark next to my name. Try it out. It's free!

  14. I've seen this by briancox2 · · Score: 1

    Anyone who has ever fallen for this scam deserves the consequence as a sort of financial Darwinism.

    Really 23 yr old hottie? You want some 30 or 40 something man to validate his existence by sharing his credit card number. Yes ... that seems very reasonable ...

    --
    We should learn what we need to know about issues, before we decide what we need to feel about them.
    1. Re:I've seen this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Risk vrs Reward. I would imagine the risk is low to nonexistent, the reward being at very least, some numbers as to how many took the bait in that pool of people... which would be some interesting numbers.

  15. because, you know by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    there is always some hot singles in your area

  16. Slashdot not dumb. You are. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please. Why post such stories? Slashdot readers on average are not dumb, are tech savvy.

    We don't need you to tell us these things.

    Doing so makes us think more and more this place is irrelevant and incompetent.

  17. how else could we sell porn? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I bought an extended service plan with my car, but it just signed me up for porn.

    I had a coupon for 10 cents off per pound for bananas at the grocery store, but when the clerk scanned it, it signed me up for porn.

    I rang the doorbell at my neighbor's house, and it signed me up for porn.

    I flushed the my new Japanese smart toilet, and it signed me up for porn.