'MyLuvCrush' dumped by atty. general

SEATTLE, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A Seattle company that targeted users of social networking Web sites with bogus messages from an imaginary "crush" agreed to drop the ads, authorities say.

MyLuvCrush, an online horoscope service operated by Tatto Media Inc., will halt the deceptive ads that went out to users of Facebook.com, Reunion.com and other such Web sites, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Tuesday.

Paula Selis, senior counsel for the Washington State Attorney General's Office's high-tech consumer protection unit, said MyLuvCrush sent ads to users saying a "crush" in their area was looking for them, then sent them through a series of prompts, At the end, a demand was made they that they sign up for a mobile phone text messaging service to see their fictitious "crush."

"This is somewhat unique, because it's creative," Selis told the newspaper. "People, I think, are more cynical about spam e-mail, because they're used to receiving it. This is a little more mischievous, because it is geographically targeted and coming from a trusted site."