Fraud plagues Jiayuan dating site

Updated: 2011-08-18 15:58

By Hu Yang (chinadaily.com.cn)

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Fraud plagues Jiayuan dating site

Jiayuan.com celebrates its debut on Nasdaq on its website, May 12, 2011. [Photo / Asianewsphoto]

Jiayuan.com, China's biggest dating website, has been accused by the media and users of lax management of members and allowing the proclaimed "serious match website" to become a shelter for frauds and prostitution.

The website boasts over 45 million registered members and went public on the NASDAQ stock market this May under the stock code "DATE". It targets single, city-dwelling adults and has a stated goal of spurring relationships that end in marriage.

China's Central Television reported in July that a female user, Liu Qing, had been swindled by a man she met on Jiayuan.com whose personal information proved to be faked. Liu, together with dozens of other fraud victims, took the website to court for failing to monitor authentic member information.

Liquor selling scams, pimping, and one-night stands are also prevailing via the online platform, according to an investigative report by This Week, a publication under People's Daily.

Liquor distributors and pimps also haunt the site, hiring people to register as young women and post sexy photos to lure male customers. Jiayuan.com does not require identity authentications so "once an ID is blocked, it is easy to register a new one", a liquor seller said.

The report said many netizens jokingly call Jiayuan.com "China's biggest one-night stand site" as many users take advantage of its large member base to find sex partners instead of life-long mates.