UK dating app Fluttr aims to beat the ‘Tinder swindlers’ with biometric ID

A new British dating app is promising to eradicate Tinder Swindler-style romance fraud, which cost duped daters almost £100m last year, by ensuring that all members complete biometric ID verification before they digitally mingle.

Fluttr, which claims to be the first UK online dating app to use such technology to improve user safety, is launching on Valentine's Day in the hope of getting a boost from singletons looking to change their relationship status.

The issue of romance fraud, catfishing and fake profiles has been put into the spotlight following the release of Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler, which tells the true story of a man who went to extraordinary lengths to scam women for millions after meeting them online.

The pandemic, when online dating was the only mixing that was allowed, has driven a huge surge in scams costing those duped £92m in the UK last year.

"We want to rid the world of Tinder Swindlers and create a safe space free from the fake profiles used to defraud, catfish and abuse online daters," said Rhonda Alexander, the chief executive and co-founder of Fluttr. "We're reclaiming the fun of online dating by using digital ID verification and AI technology to create an environment that is secure enough for people to do everything from connecting with real people to falling in love."

According to the UK's cybercrime and fraud reporting centre, Action Fraud, 8,863 cases were reported to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau between November 2020 and October last year. This is a 27% increase on the previous annual figure of 6,968 cases, which span simple acts of deception to organised scamming operations involving fake video calls and websites, the previous year.

Daters who strike up online relationships between Christmas and Valentine's Day tend to be the most susceptible to romance fraud, according to official figures.

"Requests for money often are highly emotive, such as criminals claiming they need money for emergency surgery, medical care, or to pay for tickets and travel documents to visit the victim if they are overseas, even a debt that must be paid urgently," says Richard Bromley, fraud risk manager at banking and payment app Revolut. "The scammers often pretend to work overseas, in the military, as a doctor or in an oil rig."

Fluttr has partnered with digital verification firm Yoti, which has clients including the NHS, Post Office and National Union of Students, to ensure all would-be daters are providing the correct personal details matched to government-issued documents.

The subscription-only service, which says it will not run in-app ads or store user data, is looking to drive sign-ups with a promotional offer of £9.99 a month, with the typical price planned to be £14.99.

The company is majority owned by Ethical Social Group, a UK-based technology company that aims to positively change social media platforms. It is funded by a small group of mostly UK-based private investors.