--- title: "Genius Dating App Hooks Up Scammers Only With Bots and Other Scammers" description: "Dating app Filter Off has come up with a genius solution to ward off scammers and scambots: by locking them in a room with a bunch of its own scambots." date: "2022-09-01" modified: "2022-09-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/dating-app-scammers-bots" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "artificial intelligence" - "dating apps" - "online scams" - "the digest" --- # Genius Dating App Hooks Up Scammers Only With Bots and Other Scammers ![Dating app Filter Off has come up with a genius solution to ward off scammers and scambots: by locking them in a room with a bunch of its own scambots.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Just Deserts Video-first dating app Filter Off has come up with a clever solution to ward off scammers: locking them in a room with a bunch of its own bots, [*TechCrunch* reports](). As often happens with online dating platforms, the service started to fill up with scammers looking to extract money from actual users. But the company came up with a clever solution: creating a bunch of amorous chatbots and configured the system so that the scammers only match with them — an elegant and poetic solution to a very persistent problem. The company's head of product, Brian Weinreich, told *TechCrunch* that there are now "probably over 1,000 scammers," which are "actively talking to just bots." ## Dating Pool The company created the chatbots using GPT-3, OpenAI's [powerful language model]() that can produce human-like text, and combined them with [AI-generated images of human faces](). The profiles were invisible to human users, but were the exclusive dating pool for scammers the company identified. Mayhem ensued. "The funny part is, two things happen," Weinreich told *TechCrunch*. "One, the scammers will run into other bots, but they’ll also run into other scammers, and they’re trying to scam each other." "They are like ‘I want $40 for a Google Play gift card’ and the other scammer replies ‘no, no you give a gift card to me‘ and they just kept arguing," he added. It's a devious ploy, albeit one that's been [tried before in videogames]() and [even against telemarketers](). But as always, the scammers are doubtless going to be hard at work figuring out how to evade — or even exploit — the new system. **READ MORE:** [This dating app fought scammers with bots… hilarity ensued]() \[*TechCrunch*\] **More on virtual dating:***[People Are Going on Dates in the Metaverse and It Sounds Very Strange]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()