Fort Mill Times
3/28/2008
She's looking for some E-Dating, but her date just got out of E-block at the penitentiary.

Online dating services would have to tell you whether or not they at least tried to find out if your perfect match is also a match in a criminal records check, under a bill approved by a Senate committee.

It's a perennial bill, pushed by one online dating company, True.com, that does background checks and tells members that on their site.

Opponents of the measure say True.com is just trying to get a marketing advantage over other companies who - if they don't do background screenings - would have to say so prominently on their site under the bill (SB 1536). It was approved in the Senate Commerce Committee over the _object_ion of those who said it offers a false sense of security.

Other online dating companies oppose the bill, saying background checks aren't reliable because they can't verify who the person actually signing onto the site is. Some also say online dating isn't any different from real-world meeting places, such as bars, that don't do background checks on patrons.

As I read it, that little news item states the law would require dating sites to notify residents (I assume they mean consumers) if they do not do criminal background checks.
That article does not say that the background checks are required by the law.

In any case, IMO, this is ridiculous. If a law like this were passed, I think we can say goodbye to all free, or even affordable dating sites....
Internationally, different countries have huge difference in the information that is available to run a background search. In the USA, criminal records are considered public information. A USA background public record search may include Current phone number, address, address history for 30 years, age, birthdates, household members, relatives, associates, property ownership, lawsuits, marriage, divorce, criminal records check, sex offenders, terrorist watch, bankruptcy, tax liens, and more. It's impressive how much a background check can find out about people in the USA. But, does anyone believe that the same level of information is available on people in the Urkraine or Bellarus?

Even if you are dealing with a well developed country that keeps detailed criminal and public records, most countries have strict privacy laws, like the UK Criminal Records Bureau. No dating service would be allowed to access UK criminal records. The end result is that most international dating services will only be able to post the disclaimer that they do not perform background checks.

A lot of new scams will pop up offering to do complete background check on women from underdeveloped countries. And the fee's they charge for travel and private investigation will be enormous.

Even if a USA male is silly enough to employ Vihktor's Perfect Background Check to investigate a woman in Bellarus, then both he and she are open to blackmail. Vihktor could tell her that she must pay him money or he will write a bad report. So the girl gets scammed out of money that she can ill afford to lose. And if she is already a scammer, then they both will scam the USA male. Or, Vihktor could do no investigation at all, but write a string of reports to the USA male designed to extract more money from him. Oh, yes, she is beautiful, young, and wonderful, but needs money for her mother's operation because she could never come to the USA until her sick mother is cured. Then there is all of the up front money needed for visas and travel, and preparation to travel. The scam is worth many thousands of dollars.

Be realistic. Unless you are a rich movie/pop/sports star, it is rather unlikely that a model looking girl will fall deeply in love with you right after your first letter. Most of the dating services advertise with pictures of pretty women. Even Yahoo did that when they started their Personals service. Yahoo had about 100 profiles and pictures that they repeated many times in order to seed their empty service until people started using it.