Dating : The UK’s Most Dangerous Dating App Is Revealed

With crime statistics related to online dating and dating apps burgeoning and seemingly out of control, a recent investigation by The Sun Online looked in depth at crimes emanating from specific sites and apps to see if any sort of pattern emerged, with the 3 million strong online dating site and app Plenty of Fish recording 56% of all crimes recorded from the UK’s most popular sites and apps.

The Sun’s Investigation featured free sites Plenty of Fish, Tinder, Grindr and paid for site Match.com with Plenty of Fish having more criminal offences recorded against it than all of the other sites or apps in the investigation put together.

32 Police Forces across the UK responded to the Sun’s investigation but sadly 2 of the biggest the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police didn’t and so the statistics reported will be significantly higher in reality. The types of crime reported included the following:

Offensive/Threatening Messages 18.8%
Harassment 16.9%
Rape 16.4%
Theft/Robbery 9.5%
Assault 7.9%
Grooming/Sexual Activity with Children 6.6%
Sexual Assault 6.1%
Sending Indecent Images 5.8%
Blackmail 5.3%
Stalking 3.7%
Fraud 2.6%
Attempted Murder 0.3%

Actual murder was specifically excluded because not all of the Police Forces responded but please do not think this is because the numbers are insignificant, as I am concerned to report that online dating related murder does exist and unfortunately the number of murders experienced is large and growing. It is not anything that is going to go away.

Crime victims also reported to feeling let down by the Police Forces and the companies behind the sites and apps, who many people felt didn’t seem interested in taking action against the perpetrators and indeed the only phone number that Plenty of Fish supply is based in the USA. A very sad state of affairs indeed.

We approached the Dating Agency Association for comment and advice on the Sun’s investigation and spoke to Chairman Eddy Ankrett. His views were as follows:
‘This is eye opening stuff and clearly highlights a major problem with online dating related crime within the UK. Our Association has a stringent code of ethics that member companies are required to follow, without exception and I cannot help but feel if these more remote sites and apps, were made to follow something similar then the statistics would quickly be brought back under control.But I don’t feel that is likely to happen unless following a code of ethics becomes law and is therefore compulsory.’

He continues: ‘Our own members are required to deploy the highest of standards when dealing with members of the public and potential new members and I feel all companies ought to be working to the same high standards. A level playing field is required within dating in the UK, but we may need Government intervention to achieve that. Until such times unfortunately I feel we will continue to see online dating related crime spiralling.’

So the question has to be ‘Is there a credible alternative to the online dating sites and apps?’ And I think that clearly there is, with many traditional, face to face agencies having stood the test of time and been around literally for half a lifetime or more, significantly longer than most online sites and apps.

Heather Heber Percy’s ‘The County Register’, Elaine Reynold’s ‘Caroline Crowther’, Liz Fogarty’s ‘Attractive Partners’, Karen Mooney’s ‘Sarah Eden’, Adrian Slatter’s “Searchmate’, have all been around for many years, with many thousands of successes between them. They all give potential clients the opportunity to talk to an expert face to face or the chance to visit an office, to meet the matchmakers and the people you’d be working with. They would also be extremely exacting about who they take on as members, with rigorous checking and the completion of in depth questionnaires to ensure that everyone is 100% genuine.

So could a traditional agency be best? Find out for yourselves and check out the members at https://www.datingagencyassociation.org.uk or https://www.abia.org.uk