November 22, 2005 | Funny Bits

Online daters sue over broken hearts

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

So goes the old adage, which two plaintiffs in the United States have recently reasserted in separate lawsuits against dating websites Match.com and Yahoo! Personals, alleging that the sites post phony personals ads to attract and retain subscribers.

The plaintiff in the Match.com case has even suggested that the site sends fake messages to subscribers and pays women -- with the measely $78 that it charges members for six months of service -- to go on fake dates with male members. If the charges are true, that's some cheap pussy!

Matthew Evans of Orange County, Calif., alleges that he went on a date with a woman -- who he has called "date bait" -- who subsequently told him that Match.com paid her to go on dates with approximately 100 members per month, and that the site pays women in all large metropolitan areas to go on similar dates.

A separate suit alleges that Yahoo! creates fake profiles to "falsely represent more subscriber participation than actually exists."

Yahoo! does not comment on pending suits, but Match.com, which boasts 15 million members worldwide, says that it plans to "defend vigorously" against Evans' allegations.

Next time, Evans might just want to take his $78 for a ride down Hollywood Boulevard. It might prove to be a cheaper date than a multi-million-dollar lawsuit!

• Web of deception for online daters [Newsday]
• Online daters sue matchmaking sites [Yahoo! News]