Finally a law firm that is going to stop some of this catfish shit all these companies are allowing to happen. First Match.com is going down and then many other dating sites and social media sites. It?s time to pay for allowing these scams to go on for years and knowing about it.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 27, 2014
Las Vegas, Nevada
$4.5 BILLION AMENDED COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST MATCH.COM FOR FRAUD
Melissa Midwest and MelTech, Inc. Join Class Action On Behalf of Models in Fake Profiles
After filing the original lawsuit on November 21, 2013, IAC/Match.com released a false statement claiming they are ?adept? at screening fake profiles and that Plaintiff's case pending in the Southern District of New York before Judge Furman (case #: 13-cv-8351) is lacking in factual or legal basis. Plaintiffs Melissa Midwest aka Melissa Harrington and MelTech, Inc. (owner of Melissa Midwest's copyrighted images) have therefore filed an amended complaint today with the court including additional comprehensive legal and factual support for their claims. The amended complaint includes approximately 117 complaints from Match.com users posted on a single web site regarding fake profiles as examples, warnings from the FBI, U.S. Embassy in Gana, U.S. Army, and Colorado Attorney General regarding online romance fraud, examples of 3,000 fake Match usernames and approximately 50 fake profiles, identities of the top ten female models who appear in fake Match profiles (including Melissa Midwest, Raven Riley, Cassandra ?BlueEyez,?and Lana Brooke), and examples of four celebrities who were approved in fake Match profiles. In all Plaintiffs' have received thousands of complaints regarding the unauthorized use of their photographs in fake profiles, including at least hundreds from Match.com and People Media sites.
?My web site
www.MelissaMidwest.com has been pirated for at least 8 years by Nigerians and others who use Melissa's photographs in fake Match.com profiles and other internet profiles. We have complained to the FBI, the police, and some of the web sites but nobody every responded,? said Shane Harrington, owner of MelTech, Inc. ?They are building a new museum in Las Vegas and have asked permission to put a Melissa Midwest display between Britney Spear and Paris Hilton. Melissa appeared in 38 magazines and her web site was the most successful of its kind in the world for years. She was once once the #9 most searched person on the internet. For Match.com to post her copyrighted pictures in hundreds if not thousands of fake profiles on their web site is inexcusable,? said Shane this morning.
?I was contacted by an industry insider who told me that the CEO of Match.com told him years ago that he does not care where profiles come from because fake profiles increase profits (or words to that effect),? said Plaintiffs' attorney, Evan Spencer. Furthermore, days after filing this case in November, IAC announced plans to spin off its Match segment into a separate entity, a clear indication that Barry Diller and the parent company are trying to distance themselves from the civil and criminal implications of Plaintiffs' lawsuit.
Shane Harrington of MelTech, Inc.
c/o Evan Spencer
Attorney at Law
305 Broadway, 14th Floor
New York, NY 10007
Tel. 347. 931. 1814
[email protected]