Love factually: Dating start-ups promise to cut the cheats

Dennie Smith experienced a moment of clarity while standing in a replica World War I trench. A self-described military history enthusiast, Smith was visiting the site with fellow fans when she identified a significant gap in the online dating market. The existing apps failed to serve those who, like her, were looking over the edge of the trench. "A lot of dating sites are just about volume, and they include fake profiles that conceal scams," Smith noted.

Based in Croydon, south London, where she runs a hair salon, Smith launched the Geek Meet Club to tap into the underserved market of "geeky people." Her goal was to unite like-minded individuals while filtering out the "regiments of fakes" that she believes have tarnished the reputation of online dating. Smith personally vets every applicant, a process she finds both enjoyable and necessary. "I'm very good at spotting a fake. But sometimes it's easy, one person submitted a photo of Boris Johnson!" She is willing to reject approximately 50 applicants each month to protect her 3,300 members from harassment and deception.

Geek Meet Club aims to return dating to the physical world through events such as monthly quizzes and costume parties in hired venues. This emphasis on elaborate disguises, common at science fiction conventions, signals Smith’s target demographic. "Comic and sci-fi conventions are a big pull for geeky people," she explained. The underlying philosophy is to facilitate in-person meetings swiftly, as the online landscape has become fraught with fraud and deceit. "I tell my members to meet in person as soon as possible, go for a coffee in the park, or on the High Street, to find out if the other person is legitimate."

The drive to eliminate dating fraud also inspired the creation of Cherry Dating. Founded by Jo Mason, a City of London banker who grew weary of counterfeit profiles, the platform addresses the skepticism users feel toward online matches. "You look at profiles on these sites and ask yourself 'is this person real?'. You have to be like a private investigator researching people's profiles before you connect," Mason said. She highlights several ways online dating disappoints users: some seek fake romance with no intention of meeting, others are already married, and some prefer purely virtual relationships.

Catfishing, the practice of using false images or personas to lure victims, takes many forms. "The lower end of catfishing just uses a 10-year-old photo. But some people may not look like their photo at all, or be a completely different person," Mason observed. To combat these virtual scams, Cherry Dating employs software that matches a user’s selfie against their driving license or passport to verify authenticity. This strict identity verification causes many prospective members to drop out, but Mason, drawing on her financial sector experience, defends the method. "Big banks use this kind of approach to spot anomalies in accounts."

The platform also uses compatibility scoring to help users make informed decisions. "If you're 80% compatible that's good, you don't waste time with someone who's 5% compatible," Mason noted. Her research suggests a significant dissatisfaction with current options: 47% of British respondents believe no dating app meets their needs, and 40% feel that apps have reduced their motivation to find a partner.

Furthermore, Sumsub, a company providing fraud-counteracting services, surveyed 2,000 UK dating app users and identified another source of confusion. The poll revealed that 54% of respondents admitted to using artificial intelligence to enhance their online profiles. Jocelyn Penque, a UK-based Texan dating coach and founder of Dating Classroom, is working to navigate this landscape of false information and AI manipulation. "I coach people about their strategies," Penque said, noting that her clientele consists of successful individuals who have not prioritized relationships. With a tech industry background, she is not opposed to using technology, provided it is used ethically.

Source: BBC News Generated at: 2026-05-21 23:14:18 UTC