Dating Websites Called a RICO Conspiracy

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - A RICO class action claims operators of Web sites billed as "the world's sexiest adult dating community" use "fake user profiles" to lure men into paying for its "fraudulent service." The class says the two men who run the "Internet empire," Alan Henning and Thomas Jones, both live in California.

The class also sued Deniro Marketing, of California; Modena Marketing, of Antigua and Barbados; Piranha New Media of the United Kingdom; Deltabreeze Holdings, of Cyprus; and Pen Help, of the United Kingdom, all of them allegedly run by Henning and/or Jones.

The class claims the defendants "own and operate a massive and complex Internet empire, the core of which consists of fraudulent 'adult dating' websites."

The six named plaintiffs say the defendants' primary website is called amateurmatch.com, which promises to find sex partners for "erotic email or cyber sex, erotic photo exchange, and other sexual activities, including discreet relationships or casual sex, group Sex (3 or more), just naughty fun!, voyeurism and 1-on-1 sex."

The "AmateurMatch Enterprise" emulates real dating services, but is a scam "built upon a huge database of fake user profiles designed to deceive consumers into paying to join and continue using its fraudulent service," the plaintiffs say.

The plaintiffs - all men - says that after signing up, they did not get the services they expected, but were bombarded with spam email and solicitations to pay for more expensive memberships.

They claim AmateurMatch Enterprises hauls in $1 million a month, without providing any "legitimate services" to members. The dating websites controlled by AmateurMatch Enterprise are "worthless," according to the complaint.

The class claims the defendants' scam consists of a network of Internet sites that function like a spider web. People are attracted to the websites via spam email, pop-up ads or social networking scams, often featuring "testimonials" from supposed members like "warpthetool69," who allegedly stated, "Didn't have to look very far and didn't have to do very much to find my match. I can't tell you how thankful I am to Amateurmatch."

Victims who agree to accept a supposedly free trial membership are barraged with bogus messages that claim to be from "real, attractive and often scantily-clad women" who want to meet them, the class claims.

"These messages, however, are not from real women; they are automated messages sent for the purpose of deceiving the consumer into purchasing a recurring monthly subscription to the dating web site," the complaint states.

The class claims the defendants keep charging their credit cards after they cancel their subscription, and the spam email keeps coming too.

The class seeks treble damages for RICO enterprise, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, unlawful solicitation by email, and consumer law violations.

They are represented by Daniel Balsam with the Garbarini Law Group.

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