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Avoid the Academic Singles scam!

I was recently (2016) scammed by "Academic Singles". After I signed up for a free account, they kept sending me messages saying that specific women were interested in me. Each woman had a picture that was blurred out, but several of them appeared reasonably attractive at a guess.

Eventually, my curiosity was eventually piqued and I signed up for a package. Then and only then did I find out that the women I was curious about had NOT uploaded any pictures, and the photographs were "placeholders" put up by Academic Singles. In short, it was a scam.

Within the hour I signed up, it became clear to me that I had been cheated. I then contacted Academic Singles about a refund and stopped using the service. After several emails, it was abundantly clear that they had no intention of processing any such refund. Their incredible response? "Rather than have a blank space in your profile, the use of a placeholder template photo to fill the space where your profile picture should be has a proven positive effect."

In other words, they are blatantly and quite smugly deceiving us.

Their latest excuse for rejecting the refund is that I had already used their service and had read/sent a large number of messages. These messages were all read/sent within that first hour, all to women who had first indicated interest in me, and almost all to let them know (nicely) that I did not return their interest. The others were to a bunch of very different looking women who had all written me the exact same message asking me to contact them at the same email address (lol).

Incidentally, the real women who had written me were all NOT academics.

I have previously signed up for other dating services and know that legitimate businesses do not use fake pictures to lure in customers. The ratio of genuine to fake users is also far worse here than on any other site I have used. I had googled Academic Singles extensively before signing up and had not seen any evidence that they are scammers. To put it simply, there is no way an uninformed person could know that this particular website engages in deception of this sort. So here I am to tell you this so you don't waste your money and time here.

tl;dr Academic Singles brazenly lies to you using fake pictures. Save your money and avoid this scam site like the plague.

Pros
None

Cons
This is a scam site.

They use fake pictures to lure in the unsuspecting.

I agree with the above comments. I was also scammed by this site. Blurred photos. I was contacted by a man who sad he lived in Cairns. He then told me that he worked in Malaysia building bridges. One week later (through Skype) he notified me that he had lost his wallet and needed money to return to Australia. I told him he had a problem and that was when he hung up. I did report him but I do not know if anything has been done. I have cancelled my credit card with the bank so no more money can be paid.

I signed up for what i thought was 1 month, I thought no harm in trying, then i noticed the next day that it was the monthly rate for 12 months, but this wasnt made clear in the ad. So i lost 12 months and then i noticed they had made it a reoccurring debt, which i promptly changed.
Here we are 12 months on, ive never even used the service and they tried to debt my account and couldnt and now want to bill me for AU$264 for an additional 6 months, because they say i need to rejoin to cancel !!!!
Is there nothing that can be done about these people!
Needless to say I refuse to pay.

I was charged $194 without my authority. The photos were false ones. Why this site was allowed to operate in Australia? Why bank wouldn't do anything to protect the consumes?

As I also mistakenly registered the very next day I cancelled my card before they could even start deducting any money now they are emailing me stating they will raise a case against me with external debt collection agency. Overdue amount is $228.70 But I still refuse to pay any amount to Academic Singles.

Mere, Im in the same boat. It gets worse, you cant apply to discontinue despite telling them to in a return email. you can apply to join online but need to apparently send them a letter in the post to apply to be removed and stop them auto renewing the service, to which they still continue to send fake spam to my account. Essentially theyre saying i need to pay the $264 to continue the next 6 months so i can cancel!
Surely this is not legal! How do we stop this? Has anyone else been actively perused by them? Or is it a bluff to make you pay?

I to our have also been conned by these people and have no idea what to do. The fact that they prey on people hoping to find love is such a disgusting sight.

Hi, writing from the Czech Republic. This is just so incredible and sad. Truly revolting. Thank you all for sharing your experience. I wrote to the Czech authorities, who should, hopefully, forward the warning to the European authorities dealing with this type of scam. So far I personally lost only about 8 USD, for the monthly subscription, I am going to write the cancellation but still fear it will not be sufficient. My bank proposes blocking internet transactions or issuing a new card. Good luck to all!

Such a pity I did not read your comments before! I payed not by credit card, but by on-line banking. I thought so they will not charge my credit card without my permission. Was it a good idea or do I have to be worried of some other risks? Do you know if I have to write in any case a letter of cancellation? By the way, the contact address [email protected] doesn't work. So there is no way to contact them per email. Really a criminal organization! Keep away!

I stupidly took out a contract with this site. Deciding I did not want to continue I looked to see how I could unsubscribe - finding no way to do this I rang my credit card company and told them to deny any future payments. i am now receiving threatening emails. Pay or we will send the debt collectors round. I would sign up to any action being taken against them They are indeed a scam. i am though also concerned - can they send a debt collector round? I was attracted by the academic idea - I am an academic! I might block their email address now. How could I be so stupid not to check them out before joining. I agree with all the comments above. Somehow they need to exposed.
Jill

Yes, it is a total con. You can't even delete your profile from "my Profile" I even tried to remove all my information I typed in about myself by deleting it and pressing "save"..... hello! my details is still there. I tried to cancel my membership by sending a Fax, (with all the details they requested to cancel your membership) to this bogus number & hello! the number was not reckonised. Funny that. Can't believe that this dating site is allowed to advertise it's scam on Face Book and Face Book is allowing it to. My end result, I reported it to my bank and I have cancelled my credit card before they can take any more money from me. If I get my money back from the bank because of it being fraud then I'm lucky. I'm not banking on it thou. Let this be a lesson to me ...... no more dating sites.

I am unfortunately yet another victim - of their swiss outlet. They seem to be worldwide and perpetrating the same fraud everywhere. I tried to cancel my membership before the next renewal date but could not do so - I just kept getting an error message. Now they are threatening me with the debt collectors. They will not succeed I think - you are all providing me with evidence that they are fraudulent. They are insisting I owe them 371 swiss francs and that if I don't want to be a member anymore they will delete my account .... I cant even get into it so what would I be paying for. I cant delete my own data. I am gutted. Is it not time some legal action is taken? I think I might contact Which - the UK consumer site. They might have advice on this. Can I assume some of your will help? We should certainly inform Facebook to deny them access for adverts? If we all did it then Facebook might take action. Any thoughts?

Duh - just seen I had already posted a message to this site - sorry folks, I guess it is troubling me

Scam ! they have extended my membership and asked me to pay 240 Euros for 6 months extension! They say you have accepted "General Policy " of the company !
Fraud !
I am going to talk to a lawyer! the money is little. The way they do is illegal !

Sara that is exactly what they have said to me too. can you let me know please what your lawyer says. I think I am in the same situation as you. i have not heard any more since the warning but if I do then I too will go to a lawyer.

I wish I had read some of these reviews before parting with my money. I agree this site is a con and uses "stock" photos of attractive models who are supposedly interested in you. Once you've parted with your $300 it quickly becomes apparent the photos are fakes. Surely this is fraud and a Police matter? James

Thank you so much for these reviews!!! I will not now risk any kind of subscription with this company, and am eternally grateful to all those who took the time to write honest reviews about this scam. Thank you!

I have tried twice to cancel this subscripties by e-mail
And was stil billed for thee Months which I paid to a collection agency . Went looking for The form to fill
Out .. of course iT isnot that simple . So I e-mailen again and Tols them iT iss finished ... take me off and delete my profile . They have not answered my request buf are getting collections onto me ... !!!!
Rip offs unlinited .. False
representation all The way
they can keep trying

This is definitely a scam! They are also threatening to send the debt collectors. Has anyone actually had their credit rating affected yet??

They have sent my "debt" to the debt collectors. I 'owe' them 320 euros they tell me. Throughout this it has been impossible to talk to anyone - be2 itself would not discuss anything with me or answer my questions, the first finance management company they sent it to also wouldn't talk. and now the debt collectors wont. I contacted the money advisors at Which (a consumer organisation in the UK) and we agreed that my credit rating is unlikely to be affected - I have several credit card and don't need more anyway. The worst that might happen is that the limit on the cards might reduce from their current £5000 a bit. I really think we need to be in better contact - if this goes to court which it might, I might need some evidence from you all! I will give you therefore one of my email addresses susan.langdridge @ gmail.com (NB take out the spaces - I put them there to confuse the machines that search for email addresses) and that is not my name but a pseudonym for things like this.

I am so grateful for all the feedback just when i was going to sign up to meet like-minded people. What a sham! I am sorry that you were conned. It is sad that many of the dating sites are not true honest providers when meeting online is about the only way nowadays to meet someone. All the best.

how much does Academic singles cost?

I met this guy thru academic singles his name is fernando lucas staying paris. I have never met him personally. We communicated via whatsapp. We have know for 9 mths. He told me he needs financial help for his daughter's operation. I helped him, after i helped him, he constantly was asking for money, he took $20000 from me and i was exhausted and stop giving him money. After he knows that i'm not giving him any more money, he blocked my email and all my contacts.
I simply lost $20000.
I suspect he is a scam. Ladies pse watch out. Dont get scam over such man.
Now i dont know how to get back my money instead of finding a partner i lost all my money. Can anyone help me on how to get back my money. I only have his home address.

Hello dears. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for doing this. Second or third on the Google search is how I found this. And yeah it's not only in Australia that these bastards operate. Myself am from Romania / Europe. Was thinking about trying out for one month. But the numbers wouldn't add up no matter what. I was invited to select the most popular option that costs more or less 1 euro per week. Some 5 euros per one month. But the 3 months subscription was nearly 3 times that. Wanting to select that I click and open the details. That amount was not per 3 months as I thought.. But per week...

Another thing that got me thinking was the photos. I barely made the account so no photos were added yet. And the indications received while trying to view the photos of the allegedly legit profiles were to add a photo first in order to view other people's photos. So I add 2 photos and guess what. Now the message changed. In order to view photos you have to subscribe...

And this is when I found you thanking you all for making me keep my money safe. You saved me! Chapeau!

I lost $20000, this guy named fernando lucas lived in paris. I have known him for 6 mths thru academics single. He took alot money from me and still continue to ask, when i stop giving him money, he blocked me. He is really a scam. Ladies pse watch, scammers also register in academics single. Now i dont know how to get back my hard earned money. Can anyone help me on how to get back my money. My email address is
[email protected]

Academicsingles.sg scam

I am glen originally from malaysia but work and live in singapore for 15 years
I am a catholic but i was raised and educated by sikhs since i was a kid...
70% of my family are punjabis
I well verse in sikhsm and punjabi tradition
I go to gurudwara since i was a kid until now at list twice a week
I was a chef for 10 years and i have passion in cooking and food delicasies.....Now i move to retail bussiness line
I am here sincerely to find my other half to share my love and life and settle down
I do not play games or hurt no one
I hope God bless me with a soulate to share my life and build a relationship based on trust and love
I am a very ambitious person who likes to venture in life


[email protected]


I too had a similar horrible experience
I came across academic singles.sg on facebook and i sign up for it and i paid the first supscription
And then onwards i did not get any updates from them like other dating sites do
There were not updates from them
No match suggestions
I did not here from them completely for half a year
they vanish and dissapeared for almost half a year when suddently 5 days ago they email me and said that my outo pay supscription to their dating site fail and that thay told me that my account seiced and as been block and now they demand me for an outstanding payment of $377 without even prompting me or informing me before hand....and they also treaten me that if i do not pay they will hand over my case to a so called dept collectors and they will force payment out from me
So i email them back three times and i even gave them my contact number and up to now i did not receive any email and they did not even bother to contact me at all
after reading all the reviews here only then i understand that this academicsingkes.sg is a big scam and all tgey do is to rip money out from you
so if abyone here reading my review you a welcome to reply me and help shed some soluction to this problem.....Glen