Secured Online Seekers Scam in Brief…
Secured Online Seekers is a get verified / date verification scam that signs you up for a dating website without your knowledge. Although the site promotes itself as free, It can cost $40 per month.
Site Name: Secured Online Seekers
Site URL:
securedonlineseekers93c .bitballoon .com/
Note that sites tend to copy similar sites so the URL might not be the same as the above. If you find a different URL that looks similar (see website pic at the end), please leave a comment below.
Type of Scam
Get Verified / Date Verification with hidden credit card charges
What happens if you sign up?
You are signed up for membership to a rotating set of branded dating sites, run by a white labeled service company. After a 2 day trial period your credit card is charged. Also ” Membership to CamSiteOnline will be Free for Lifetime. You will also receive a free membership to InboxPartners.”
Cost of “getting verified”
$39.99 recurring Monthly Charge. The charges are NOT visible in the fine print.
* Tested with Chrome on Windows 10 and an Android. Different browsers might have different results.
Redirect
Yes – Your entry and credit card are redirected without your knowledge. The redirect acts as a controller, and rotates to different branded dating sites.
Who Owns Secured Online Seekers
The site is a subdomain of bitballon.com. That means the URL is prefixed by a custom name. Bitballon is a web hosting company. Who owns this subdomain is not public knowledge.
What Controls the Redirect:
It could vary depending upon the user (the last part of the URL) that sent you the link. Observed:
- Joincheckout.com – registered anonymously.
Where does the redirect go:
A rotating set of white label dating sites. See Get Verified: Tinder, Badoo, and Craigslist – Matrix of a Scam for more information how this works. You can also watch this video.
The Fine Print
By pressing ‘Click Here For Access’, I certify that I have read and agree to the complete terms of membership and billing and that the card entered above is my credit card. Your access to CamSiteOnline includes a 2 day free trial promo to Provocative Matchmaking. If you choose to remain a member of Provocative Matchmaking beyond the trial period, your membership will renew at thirty nine dollars and ninety nine cents. Your membership to CamSiteOnline will be Free for Lifetime. You will also receive a free membership to InboxPartners.
Your IP Address has been logged for fraud protection.
Charges made to your credit card will appear under “pvcech.com (866)798-4540”, operated by Tullus Enterprises Limited, an eCommerce Merchant located in the United Kingdom.
Note that the pvcech.com is the billing and customer service site for this branded dating site for the instance that I clicked on the site. This site will rotate on each new click in secured online seekers.
How Date Verification scams work
This is a high level summary of how the scam works. There are variations, but all are essentially the same.
1. Contact
You make contact with a person of your desire on a dating website or forum. Although Craigslist is polluted with these scams, they appear on any website or service.
2. Email or Direct Message
The response includes an email or a phone number to text and continue a conversation
3. A fabricated conversation
Usually, there will be a response that simulates conversation. This conversation will seem klunky. The reason is that by contacting the email or the phone number a robotic script is behind the conversation, not a real person. The conversation is designed to build interest.
4. A “Free” Date Verification service
Your “date” wants to meet you but she wants to make sure you are safe, and asks you to verify yourself on a website she provides. She notes that it is free.
5. The Date Verification Website – a Façade
The Date Verification website reinforces the verification to stay safe theme, and touts a free service. The site asks for an email and a credit card, saying there is no charge. In fact, this site is nothing more than a shell that redirects you to another website without your knowledge. There is no verification website.
6. Charges
Your credit card is charged for access to a dating or a pornography site after a short trial period. Charges run from $39.99 to >$160.00 per month. Some sites show fine print that reveals the charges, some sites completely hide it. Often the consumer doesn’t know they have been signed up for these sites until it shows up on their credit card, long after the free trial period has ended.
7. The Real website
The facade website you go to uses an internet programming command called iFrame. Inside the iFrame is the controller website that directs the traffic. This routes or redirects your credit card and email to another website without your knowledge. The hidden website is a dating or pornography site. Often the hard-to-find or hidden charges include multiple dating or pornography services.
The Branded White Label Site
The site where your credit card is entered is usually a gibberish name which you cannot see. The name is short for the dating site name. For instance fntrlve.com might equal Find True love. These are branded white label dating sites. That is there is a very large dating site service company (white label company) that runs many (hundreds) of similar dating sites. The white label company provides which includes the servers, aggregated membership, and billing services. They all have the same format, but use different pictures, fonts and names, and themes (branding).
The pornography sites are also in the same model. The billing name is innocuous – perhaps an independent billing service that you will see on your credit card. Something like debitdesk.com which has association with the xxx site.
Why do they get away with this?
The people who create the date verification websites are usually from far corners of the world. Bangladesh, China, etc. The dating and pornography sites are companies incorporated in the UK, Spain, Cypress or the Bahamas. In between are click generating sites (“who does the redirect” above). This middleman give plausible deniability to the White Label Dating site owners. It is unlikely that the Dating site owners know who the Shell Site owners are.
What to do if you are being charged
Each of the dating or pornography sites has a billing site that you can call who will stop your subscription. Removing the charges can be a challenge. These companies are not known for their superior customer service.
If you did not know you were going to be charged, then this is a case to dispute the charges with your credit card company.
If you knew you were getting the charge, then you owe the amount billed.
See my Unauthorized Credit Card Charges post for a more complete answer
Website Picture
Early Warning Signs
- Anytime you are asked to leave the communications you are on, and go to another form you should be suspicious
- Klunky conversation or cannot answer a direct and simple question, such as what part of town are you in?
- Anytime you are asked to verify it is a scam.
See the full video that shows proof positive of the scam
20 Comments
Peter
June 11, 2020 - 1:54 pmHello,
Thanks for the info.
A so called women on Tinder asked to contact her by email and asked me to sign in at this link (surprise it was a match https://www.securedfreemembership. com/casualdate/187c.html
She doesn’t answer my questions and sends mostly the same email back again.
Peter
Lewis
May 27, 2020 - 2:05 amFound this one on tinder luckily only had £1 in the account(was weary anyway so chose to atleast laugh) and so tested if it was a bot or girl or not. told them to send a photo of them flipping me off but they refused. Scam
Ronin Eternales
May 27, 2020 - 12:02 pmabout $125 of “free”
Shimmeer
April 14, 2020 - 5:40 amI’m down for anything 🙂 But before we proceed, I need to make sure first that you are safe to meet 🙂 I’m thinking since I am a member of this site >> https://www.newsecuredprofile
.com/discreetdate/89e.html <> “——–” Just use that when you register, so you can access my page and get an ID for FREE. So once you get verified you will go directly to my page.
This is what i got. they have given Instagram ID to checkout also… could be fake?(im not mentioning The Vip code because may be its not fake )
Ronin Eternales
April 14, 2020 - 12:57 pmtotal scam
Lam
March 28, 2020 - 7:16 pmmaybe this is scam too. the progress is same like you write.
http://securedateonline75.com/2/
Ronin Eternales
March 29, 2020 - 11:27 amYeah it’s a scam, $120 per month. You can see this one in the fine print:
Your free premium VIP 2 day token trial to mysecretsexmate includes 5 free tokens & renews same calendar day at a fixed $39.67 month plus 130 bonus tokens. If at any time during the month your balance reaches 20 tokens or below your account will auto renew at the same price and # until you select off via the token settings page.
Special Platinum Offer:
MySecretsexmate-5 Days Free Trial membership renews at same calendar day at a fixed $37.65/monthly after the trial period ends unless cancelled. VideoFlixxx.com-10 Days Free Trial membership renews at a fixed $49.97/monthly after trial ends unless cancelled
phil
February 28, 2020 - 4:11 pmnew one >> https://newsecuredprofile.com /discreetdate/195e.html <<
Ronin Eternales
February 29, 2020 - 10:47 amyep, sends you to lets shine together https://stopthatcharge.com/rhsfty-com/
Noel
February 24, 2020 - 2:09 amThis is a new one only 2 days old… https://www.securedfreemembership.com/arrangedate/237e.html
Ronin Eternales
February 24, 2020 - 9:28 pmyep, same ole scam. signs you up to lets shine together rhsfty.com crappy dating site w fake profiles,
jjstar
May 3, 2018 - 9:30 pmthank you for explaining this. I have seen so many similar offers, usually with the fantasy members specified but the sites only have fantasy members, or lately these no charge verification sites. I always wondered how the girls made any money. tonight the robots text did not cover earlier points from me. the main thanks is for explaining that i would be unwittingly redirected. I almost capitulated, assuming the girl was foreign to explain her poor grasp of , not tonight but tomorrow and you must host.
thank you
Vince
December 17, 2017 - 3:40 pmyeah hun . so can yo host ?? Im free tonight or tomorrow?, if you’re good?and what do you want me to wear ? do you want me to wear something special ? or a simple casual dress is fine ? btw before we meet I need to make sure that I am safe with you , at first I was kinda worried about posting on dating sites bcoz I had a scary experience a year ago meeting someone in person (I had to call for help he was crazy) so you know i got kid and just to be on the safe side Iíd like you to do a quick check on this page http://securedonlineseekers86c .bitballoon.com they protect members, it doesn’t cost any bcoz Im a VIP member there so use this ACCESS CODE >> “Vip187” which you can get the ID for free , Have you seen this before ? Its been featured on the news many times. =) I just need you to do this for my peace of mind . I’m going to wait for your call or text you’ll have to use the link above to get it, that’s all I need to know you can be trusted. I really hope you aren’t just talk and follow through cause I’ve been excited about trying out a friend with benefits. Just keep it real with me and donít get clingy k.
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Vince
December 17, 2017 - 3:41 pmI’m here in New Zealand and one of the e-mails I received above, OMG I hope people don’t actually get sucked into these scams
Martin
January 17, 2018 - 3:11 pmBased in Germany, got the same message as Vince:
yeah hun . so can yo host ?? Im free tonight or tomorrow?, if you’re good?and what do you want me to wear ? do you want me to wear something special ? or a simple casual dress is fine ? btw before we meet I need to make sure that I am safe with you , at first I was kinda worried about posting on dating sites bcoz I had a scary experience a year ago meeting someone in person (I had to call for help he was crazy) so you know i got kid and just to be on the safe side…
Thanks for the heads up!
Erik Bernhardt
December 16, 2017 - 2:34 amGreat article very helpful. Def saved me a headache this evening. Seemed to good so I figured I poke around a bit. Picture hit a match on Reversee another great defense against scammers. Thanks fir the read
Grant
November 28, 2017 - 4:15 pmCheers mate you save me she seem real
Ronin Eternales
November 28, 2017 - 5:34 pmNp maybe you can buy me a pint when I come visit. I want to try Squires 9 Tail amber… 😉
Scott
November 23, 2017 - 9:11 pmThank you for putting this on the web. After careful searching on Google, I found your site about the situation which almost would have happened to me but did not.
Ronin Eternales
November 27, 2017 - 2:28 pmThanks for reading Scott. Glad I could help.