Dating Apps Cut Scams 60% With Mandatory Face Check

Two simple innovations are solving problems that have bugged millions of people for years: fake dating profiles and wasteful cooking oil production.

Match Group, the company behind Tinder and other dating apps, launched Face Check in 2025 to tackle a question every online dater has asked: Is this person even real? The system requires users to take a quick video selfie that gets matched against their profile photos.

The results speak for themselves. Since becoming mandatory in the U.S., U.K., India, Colombia, and other markets, Face Check has reduced encounters with scammers by 60%. Even better, 80% of fake profiles now get removed before anyone reports them.

The technology creates a unique "face map" of each user's features. If someone gets banned for bad behavior, they can't just create a new account on another Match dating app. Their face becomes their permanent ID across the platform.

Match Group believes this trust-building approach could work beyond dating. Any digital platform where people connect, from messaging apps to online marketplaces, struggles with fake accounts that slip past simple email or phone verification.

On a completely different front, Zero Acre Farms launched Fera Fruit Oil in March 2025 to tackle the massive environmental footprint of cooking oil. The U.S. food service industry alone uses 3 million metric tons every year, and traditional production methods eat up enormous amounts of land.

Fera oil comes from a hybrid palm tree that stays rooted in Colombian soil for its entire 25-year life. That's a huge difference from mass-produced palm oil, which often requires cutting down forests. The process uses just 0.3 acres per ton of oil, compared to 4.6 acres for canola or 6.0 for soybean.

The fallen fronds naturally decompose and feed nutrients back into the soil. Zero Acre Farms partners with organic, regenerative farms to keep the whole process environmentally friendly.

The Ripple Effect

Face Check proves that protecting people online doesn't have to be complicated or invasive. A simple video selfie creates accountability while preserving privacy, setting a new standard for how platforms can verify real humans without storing endless personal data.

Fera oil is already making its way into luxury hotels like The Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons, plus local fast-casual chains like Rice Kitchen and Mezeh Mediterranean Grill. Consumers can buy it directly from Zero Acre Farms' website or find it at specialty stores like New York's Happier Grocery and Chicago's wellness club Biân.

When innovations solve everyday frustrations while making the world safer and greener, everyone wins.