I firsted started to suspect that some online dating sites may be trying to pull a fast one when the same sexy singles who lived near me in America still popped up in my browser even after I moved to Japan.
While I can’t completely rule out the possibility that they simply crossed the ocean to make another bid at this prime piece of real estate, pairing pictures of incredibly attractive men and women with phrases like “local” and “near you” is a common method for enticing new members. Once you’ve joined, many sites even employ shills — people who are paid to create profiles and pretend to be interested in you.
It turns out this is quite the lucrative strategy: on January 15, seven people in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, were arrested on charges of fraud after raking in over $22 million from operating an online dating community populated almost entirely by fake members.





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