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

Dennie Smith experienced a moment of clarity while standing in a reconstructed World War I trench. As a self-described military history enthusiast, Smith was on a tour with fellow aficionados when she identified a significant gap in the online dating market: the platforms failed to accommodate people like those surrounding her. "A lot of dating sites are just about volume, and they include fake profiles that conceal scams," Smith explains.

Smith, who runs a hair salon in Croydon, south London, saw an opportunity to enter the dating industry by targeting "the big market of geeky people." As the founder of the Geek Meet Club, her goal was to unite like-minded individuals while filtering out the "regiments of fakes" she believes have damaged the reputation of online dating. She personally vets every applicant, a process she finds satisfying. "I'm very good at spotting a fake. But sometimes it's easy, one person submitted a photo of Boris Johnson!" She prefers to reject approximately 50 applicants each month rather than subject her 3,300 members to toxic behavior.

The Geek Meet Club aims to return dating to the physical world. "We do events, monthly quizzes, and I want to hire venues so people can come in costume," Smith says. This emphasis on elaborate attire, common at science fiction conventions, signals her target demographic. "Comic and sci-fi conventions are a big pull for geeky people." The strategy is to facilitate face-to-face meetings rapidly, as online dating has become fraught with deception and fraud. "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. Jo Mason, a City of London banker, founded the platform after growing weary of counterfeit profiles. "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," she says. Mason highlights several ways online dating fails users: "Some people just want a fictitious romance but have no intention of ever meeting you. Or they're married, or just want an online relationship."

Catfishing, the practice of using fake identities or images 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." To combat these virtual scams, Cherry Dating employs software that matches a user’s selfie against a driving license or passport to verify their identity. This rigorous check causes some potential members to drop out, but it aligns with Mason’s financial background. "Big banks use this kind of approach to spot anomalies in accounts."

Cherry Dating 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’s research reveals that 47% of British respondents believe no dating app satisfies their needs, and 40% feel that apps have reduced their motivation to meet someone. Additionally, Sumsub, a fraud-prevention service provider, surveyed 2,000 UK dating app users and identified another issue: 54% admitted to using AI to enhance their online profiles.

Jocelyn Penque, a Texas-born dating coach based in the UK and founder of Dating Classroom, is working to address this landscape of misleading profiles and AI usage. "I coach people about their strategies," Penque states, noting that her clients are often successful individuals who have not prioritized relationships. With a tech industry background, she is not opposed to...

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