The report, published Tuesday by the Joint Economic Committee, follows an investigation launched last September by Senators Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee). Internal documents provided by Match Group showed that as of the second half of 2025, Tinder had not updated most of its machine learning models in years, making it less reliable at detecting bad actors.
Data from Match Group revealed that through the third quarter of 2025 in the US, nearly 1.5 million scammers or other bad actors on Tinder and Hinge had matched with at least one other user, and almost 500,000 exchanged contact information with another user.
The report featured testimony from a victim named Mary, who met a scammer on Plenty of Fish in 2024. Mary, who asked that her last name be withheld, told the Guardian she lost almost $100,000 in cryptocurrency payments to a man who contacted her constantly and asked for money for work-related items and medical emergencies. 'They never leave you alone. I call it like being in a vortex. You don't even realise what's happening,' she said.
Since the investigation began, Match Group has introduced and expanded measures including a facial verification feature. Mary said she has since identified other Plenty of Fish profiles using the same photos and reported them.