Helping daters around the world stay safe when looking for love

Online dating has grown over recent years and shows no sign of slowing down. It’s estimated that over half of couples will meet online by the year 2031, while 58% of people say they would use online dating if they became single in the future.

However, we can’t be 100% confident in the identities of people we meet online; innocent, genuine people are being stung by scams which cost time, money and emotional distress. Last year, Brits lost £41 million to dating scams, while in the US romance fraud accounted for the highest financial losses of all online crimes, with reported losses exceeding US$230 million. The true figures are likely to be even higher as many victims may feel too embarrassed to come forward and report the crime.

One of the main issues is that setting up fake profiles on the internet is easy and unregulated, which makes dating sites a hot target for fraudsters. The risks of identity theft, catfishing and dating scams have never been greater.

We believe verified digital identities can help prevent fake profiles and catfishing, helping to create a more trusted community of daters. We’re pleased to be working with dating sites around the world to help make online encounters safer, giving online daters peace of mind about who they’re really meeting.

TrulyMadly

We’ve partnered with TrulyMadly, India’s leading dating app, to help create a safer community for daters. Each TrulyMadly profile has a Trust Score which is determined by the willingness of the individual to share and verify their personal details. Individuals can use Yoti to verify their information and boost their Trust Score, giving other daters confidence that the profile and person is genuine.

Igbo Introductions

Igbo Introductions is a new UK-based matchmaking platform for people of Igbo (from South-Eastern Nigeria) origin, or living in any part of the world looking for a long-lasting relationship based on Igbo culture, traditions and heritage. Igbo Introductions is using Yoti to verify the identity of its users. A surefire way to combat fake profiles, build more trust between people and create a safe platform for its community.

Jude Ike, co-founder of Igbo Introductions said, “Due to the global nature of our service, we looked to Yoti to offer our clients all the assurances they need to ensure that whoever they match with is who they say they are, and that their ID can be verified by an independent reputable organisation. This is so necessary for our clients who are looking for potential life partners who are genuine.

More importantly, they can share their information with others for free. They can share as much or as little as they wish during the early stages of a relationship, but they have the confidence that the details shared with them are real and verified.

We are now moving to a badging system to highlight those clients who have gone through the ID verification process and those still in the process of being verified. This will widen our scope whilst maintaining our verification process and confidence for all our clients.”

DateID

We’ve also recently partnered with DateID, a new US-based dating verification platform. DateID, which is currently in beta mode, gives individuals a quick and simple way to check the people they meet on dating sites are really who they say they are.

DateID offers individuals a number of ways to verify themselves, including linking their social media profiles and verifying their identity with Yoti; this will give them Gold status — the highest level of verification.

“As any user knows, it’s ’buyer beware’ with online dates,” said Remy Tennant, founder and CEO of DateID. “People have little incentive to be truthful, and it’s not surprising that online first dates fail twice as often as dates that are initiated offline.

Whether you’re worried that your date simply won’t look like their photos or are genuinely concerned about being catfished, DateID will empower users to avoid the myriad pitfalls of online dating.”

If you’d like to find out how Yoti can help your dating site, please get in touch. With digital identities, we can all help make dating online safer.