With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, there is an influx of people trying to find love on the internet due to special discounts and promotions offered by most online dating platforms. As a result, online dating businesses may be concerned about chargebacks and scams.
Reportedly, the online dating fraud cost victims nearly $1 billion in 2021. Many cases of fraud led cardholders to file chargebacks. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), nearly 56,000 complaints of romance scams were filed in 2021, resulting in consumers losing $547 million.
Police have shared warnings with dating apps and websites to ensure users are protected. As part of the National Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week, Police Service of Northern Ireland revealed that over 4 people reported sexual violence and abuse in 2022, and 338 related to online abuse. In order to protect users, dating apps and websites are asked to implement enhanced security measures, such as identity verification protocols and fraud prevention teams.
Today at TFN, we’ve compiled some smart ways how tech businesses can use technology to protect their customers while they are looking for love online.
Prevent and dispute chargebacks
Valentine’s Day is a time of romance and connection, but for businesses in the dating website and dating app industries, this time of year can bring extra worry due to the risk of chargebacks, a term for forced refunds initiated by a card holder with their issuing bank. Chargebacks can be detrimental to a business’s bottom line, and as such, operators of romance sites and apps must be aware of the potential risks and how to combat them.
To help prevent and dispute chargebacks tools like Chargebacks911, founded in 2011 by Gary Cardone and Monica Eaton, provide services for both prevention and representation of chargebacks.
The US-based company reduces payment disputes and recovers revenue lost to chargeback fraud for online merchants. “Unfortunately, when there is increased usage of these platforms, fraudulent activity is often not far behind,” said Monica Eaton, founder of Chargebacks911. “Scammers often take advantage of people’s heightened desire to meet someone during the holiday, and with the surge of usage around Valentine’s Day, the risk of fraudulent activity has increased as well.”
Identity verification for customer security
As governments around the countries struggle to keep people safe while looking for love online, background checks and ID verification systems are being considered in dating apps. Platforms such as Estonian identity verification startup GetID founded by Dmitri Laush and Alexander Tsikhilov in 2019 offers a convenient, transparent, and flexible solution for businesses to address their compliance needs.
They offer Identity Verification, fraud prevention, and AML screening. By utilising biometric verification techniques, dating apps can build brand trust by mitigating the risks of predators, scammers, account hijackers, and catfishers. In 2021, Checkin.com Group, a Swedish tech company that changed how people all over the world checkin with services online, acquired GetID for nearly €8 million.
ChatGPT: the future of dating?
AI isn’t new to dating apps. The game of finding love on your phone has been gamified for years. Tinder users created bots that swipe and message hundreds of users at once. Tinder bans users who do this, but even the app itself uses AI to generate conversation starters.
Also, ChatGPT can help users improve their dating profiles and make them more attractive to potential matches by providing personalised advice. Users can also rely on ChatGPT to identify and avoid potential scams and red flags when interacting online.
