Fake internet-dating enthusiast “HeidiHi’s” days of romance have come to an end.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing “JDI Dating,” an online dating company based in England, for deceiving customers, the National Journal reports.
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The company was running 18 separate websites, like cupidswand.com, flirtcrowd.com, and findmelove.com.
The sites advertised themselves as free, but would later lure customers into paying $10-30 a month in order to chat with supposedly interested fellow-users—except those users were fake computer-generated profiles manufactured by JDI Dating.
In one example of a fake profile, “HeidiHi,” a “curvy” light blonde who enjoys nightclubs and whose friend “Roxanne” testifies is “freaking awesome,” wants to meet a man between the ages of 25 and 53.
The company would also automatically renew subscriptions without alerting patrons, and made cancelling their subscriptions exceedingly difficult.
The price of deception? $616,165 in refunds.
