Hinge To Use Video Verification To Combat Love Scammers
Updated: Oct 27, 2022
Hinge, the "Designed to be Deleted" dating app, is adding video verification as an added security measure to combat scam accounts as well as catfishing. Match Group, which operates the app, calls the feature Selfie Verification and is part of a broader crackdown on scammers on dating platforms.
Selfie Verification will require users to take a video selfie through the app to confirm they're an actual person and not a fake. The app will then use a combination of machine learning technology and human moderators to “compare facial geometries from the video selfie to photos on the user’s profile”, which will result in a "Verified" badge on your account once it's determined that you're an authentic user.
Jarryd Boyd, director of brand communications for Hinge, says that the feature will start rolling out next month and should be available to all users globally by December. The dating app is currently only available in 20 countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, India, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Singapore and more, with plans to expand to other countries in the future.
“As romance scammers find new ways to defraud people, we are committed to investing in new updates and technologies that prevent harm to our daters,” Boyd said. Match Group says that Hinge, OKCupid and Match.com will be getting photo verification will be coming in a few months.
User verification isn't anything new as other popular dating apps such as Tinder and Plenty of Fish have long used photo verification for verified badges. With each of these apps, verification is only optional and not a mandatory requirement for using the platforms.
Between January and May of this year, almost 400 people have fallen victim to internet love scams, prompting the police to warn the public of cases where scammers befriended victims and deceived them into giving them money. Within that period alone, victims collectively lost more than S$15 million.
Hinge will be adding video verification to fight against scam accounts on the dating app.
Rolling out next month, users can take a selfie video to get a "verified" badge, though it's only optional.
OKCupid and Match.com will also be getting photo verification tools in the coming months.