Hinge To Get Its Own Video Verification Feature To Deter Scammers

Love may be blind, but crime isn't, and so is Match Group.

The company recently announced it would soon add a new profile verification feature on the popular dating app, Hinge, to prevent the proliferation of scams and the creation of fake accounts that would lead to one, per Wired.

Romance scams, or scams that happen on online dating sites or apps, have been noted to be on the rise in the past few years, according to Norton.

Hinge New Profile Verification Feature Details

Hinge's new profile verification feature, called Selfie Verification, is similar to the verification options offered on Match Group's other dating services, such as Tinder and Plenty of Fish.

According to Hinge's director of brand communications, Jarryd Boyd, the feature will require users to take a video selfie within the app to confirm if they are a real person and not a digital fake.

After which, Match Group will use a combination of machine learning technology and human moderators to compare the user's face with the photos posted on their profiles to confirm their identity, per The Verge.

Should the user pass the verification test, their profile will receive a "Verified" badge, providing other users with additional assurance that they are talking to an actual person rather than a digital fake.

The Match Group has a good reason for adding this new verification feature. Wired previously reported that Hinge plays host to numerous fake accounts on its platform featuring attractive people that just so happened to recently join the app.

The descriptions on these profiles don't seem to make sense either, suggesting that whoever made them used an online translator to post them. Oftentimes, these profiles are created by romance scammers that try to fleece people of their money while pretending to be in love with them.

"As romance scammers find new ways to defraud people, we're committed to investing in new updates and technologies that prevent harm to our daters," Boyd said in a statement.

Hinge's new profile verification feature is expected to be available to all users worldwide by December.

Romance Scams And How To Spot Them

Romance scams are no joke, and Match Group is right to add its new feature to provide a better sense of security and assurance. The Federal Trade Commission reports that people have lost around $1.3 billion to romance scams in the past five years, with 2021 having the highest amount of money lost to scammers.

Romance scams or online dating scams are a type of theft wherein a person gets tricked into believing they're in a romantic relationship with someone they met online.

Aside from dubious profile descriptions and how recently they just joined a dating service, romance scammers usually tend to take the relationship faster than usual, such as professing their love to their victim surprisingly quickly. This sense of urgency is needed so their victims won't catch on to their tactics.

Additionally, they make up excuses as to why they can't go on a video chat, and they ask their victims for money despite not meeting or seeing them online at all.

The FTC recommends people who suspect they're being scammed or a victim of a romance scam visit its website or the FBI to file a complaint.