Goodbye fraudsters? Dating app rolls out identity verification

To root out fake profiles, Coffee Meets Bagel now offers users govt-backed data feature

- Lee Li Ying Correspondent and Sarah Koh

Dating app Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB) has rolled out identity verification for its users in Singapore, using government records to counter rising online scams and hidden marriages.

Verified users will have the option to filter out unverified profiles from July 15, in what is a world first for CMB, The Straits Times has learnt.

Users first authenticate themselves through Singpass, which is integrated with the CMB app. The one-time verification process involves the CMB app retrieving users' NRIC number or Foreign Identification Number, date of birth, marital status and gender from government records.

Confirming the move, Ms Rachel Tee, CMB's head of trust and safety, said the platform is acting on feedback from its users to root out fake profiles.

On June 9, it rolled out the verification feature using Singpass and MyInfo, a national digital vault containing citizens' personal data.

Over 70 per cent of CMB's user base in Singapore has been verified, said Ms Shn Juay, chief executive of Coffee Meets Bagel Worldwide.

User feedback came from a survey CMB conducted in June with 972 users aged 18 and above.

It found that three in four users in Singapore had encountered a fake profile, "catfisher" or scammer, pointing to widespread concerns about trust in digital dating. A "catfisher" is someone who creates a false or misleading persona to build romantic relationships.

The top concerns identified by users polled were fake profiles, scams and hidden relationships.

A majority of those polled wanted more robust verification measures for identity (81 per cent) and marital status (65 per cent).