Zoosk scam? sure is some elements of an online dating scam here by dating website http://www.zoosk.com - I joined as a free member of zoosk.com and there have been a number of situations that raised questions as to whether this company zoosk is duping Free subscribers into upgrading to a paid membership. Currently free members cannot receive messages or if they are are locked after 1 or 2 messages. Cell phone numbers and emails are automatically censored and so are advertisements if you place any references in the ad to contact you indirectly. Zoosk was reportedly turning over 20 million in Revenue this year.
From my experience as a user on Zoosk I feel they are using REDHOTPIE baiting tactics. To find out about the Australian consumer complaints court case about online dating site RHP http://www.redhotpie.com.au go to : http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/online-dating-agency-created-fake-profiles-20091106-i1i3.html
EXAMPLE 1: I get a message from a girl in my local area on zoosk. the next day after not replying she has moved 2, 000 kilomters away! .. some days later i check she is overseas! some have moved from one side of Australia to the other side then over to the US and UK.
Example 2: Profiles message but never provide or fail to answer questions and give any contact details even emails hence getting you to reply in your zoosk messenger (requiring joining).
No matter even if i BOLD the request .. please give me your phone number as i cant reply in zoosk here.. WHERE ARE YOU? in xxxx city? this is my email .. please email me directly etc .. I never get any replies .. they (the respondee) keeps going through the zoosk messaging panel and the message is hidden (given its locked).
Example 3: Nigerian scammers work on zoosk.com .. The girls that have responded to my email have come from scam artists. I have cross checked the emails and there are lists of email checking sites to work out previious peoples experiences with Nigerian scam artists.
Example 4: Zoosk doesnt allow searching by time the person last came onto the site. Sure.. the site says "Recently online" on the persons profile but search functions as a user in Zoosk.com are extremely limited. Therefore old listings are mixed in with new singles profile listings. Therefore, I could be replying to a whole bunch of OLD LISTINGS that are a year old .. the system doesnt tell me.
This is a gross waste of time and for a firm that reportedly turns over $20 million in revenue per year http://www.onlinepersonalswatch.com/news/2010/03/easydate-expects-20-million-revenue-this-year.html this is a complete joke.
As a free user of zoosk, im surprised what quite active use of my free account that i have managed to figure out that there are some strange things happening that zoosk is getting me to upgrade to a paid membership. Even at the top rate they charge in membership you have google ads and it annoys me they are skimming you left right and centre and using "Red Hot Pie" black hat baiting tactics to get you to upgrade.
Sure, some Dickheads might argue that they are in business to make money but remember .. you are playing with what could be vulnerable people, peoples feelings and people who are fed up with scam dating websites. There are better ways to make money from people than using black hat RHP tatics and BLATANTLY undertaking exercises that amount to fraud, lies and deception.
If zoosk turned over what they turned over in revenue, im sure they would be highly protective of their credibility and see that there are certain things happening as outlined above eg. people whos profiles sound too good to be true, that change constantly etc .. but me thinks that they are just another Red Hot Pie outfit .. baiting people with bait ads and getting singles to upgrade to a paid membership.