A bipartisan pair of senators is pressing the parent company of Tinder, a popular dating app, about algorithms they fear leave users vulnerable to "romance scams."

In a letter, Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, gave Match Group, which also owns the dating apps Hinge and OkCupid, until Oct. 15 to produce records of fraudulent activities on its platforms and what the company is doing to prevent them.

"Over the years, many events have raised questions about whether Match Group – in its business practices and algorithmic design – has contributed to the proliferation of romance scams online," the senators wrote to Spencer Rascoff, Match Group's CEO.

The lawmakers specifically pointed to a series of Federal Trade Commission complaints that alleged the company has exposed users to fraud on multiple occasions. Match Group has said in legal documents that it "permanently discontinued" practices enabling those incidents.

“Match Group’s platforms have become a breeding ground for bad actors who prey on vulnerable Americans, especially seniors who have lost their life savings because of scams,” Blackburn said in a statement.

Yoel Roth, the head of Match Group's Trust and Safety division, said the company looks forward to "constructive conversations" with Hassan and Blackburn on the issue of fraud prevention.

“Protecting users from scams is essential to our business and to earning the trust people place in our platforms," Roth said in a statement to USA TODAY. "In recent years, we have made significant investments in advanced fraud detection, cutting-edge safety features, and expanded partnerships with law enforcement, industry, and civil society groups to better safeguard our communities.”

$1.3 billion lost to 'romance scams'

Romance scams typically involve people creating fake intimate relationships with other users before asking for money. Warning signs, per federal guidance, can include someone quickly professing love, claiming to live far away, requests to move conversations to other apps and having bad grammar.

Older Americans are particularly vulnerable to the practice. According to the FTC, romance scams hit a record high in 2022, with 70,000 people reporting collective losses of $1.3 billion. The average victim lost about $4,400.

“Romance scams are robbing Americans of millions of dollars every year, and taking a devastating emotional toll in the process,” Hassan said in a statement.

Zachary Schermele is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Senators press Tinder parent company for answers about dating app scams

Reporting by Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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