Chinese Dating Apps Using Bots Shut Down, 600 People Arrested

A number of dating apps in China were shut down by the police after it was found that they were actually run by automated robots. According to BBC, more than 600 suspects, associated with 21 Chinese companies, were arrested by the police after then startling discovery and at least 12 dating apps were shut down. The fraudulent apps operated across 13 provinces in the country, including Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen. The investigation into the matter began in August 2017 when the police tried to crack down on one such app, operating in southern Guangdong province, China, that charged money from customers for in exchange for viewing pornographic videos that did not exist. Further investigation revealed that one of the company's staff members had created fake "sexy girl" accounts, in order to dupe newly registered customers and con them of their money. These accounts were programmed to send out automatically generated greetings and compliments to customers who thought that they were interacting with real women.