SEATTLE, March 30 (UPI) -- Prosecutors say a 65-year-old British Columbia man ran dating Web sites targeting Americans that took in more than $1 million but never provided a dating match.
Investigators said Barrie Turner, of Delta, B.C., operated 200 Web sites, some in business since 2005, that scammed clients with fees as high as $997 for a six-month membership and the promise of two to seven introductions a month, The Seattle Times reported.
Turner was arrested Friday after crossing the border into the United States to pick up mail at a post-office box in Point Roberts, Wash., the Times said.
He created fake profiles of "eligible" singles and sent them to customers of his sites as potential matches, court papers said. Customers who responded would get e-mailed responses from fictitious potential matches saying say they're no longer available, prosecutors say.
"The investigation has not yet identified any customers who received the services advertised," said Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The sites included Executive Jewish Dating, Executive Catholic Dating, Executive Gay Dating and Executive dating sites for U.S. cities and interests.
A customer identified in court documents as T.C. said she received a profile of a match named "Kellie" from one of the sites, Executive Lesbian Dating, contacted "Kellie" through a gmail.com address provided and received this response:
"I think we have a lot in common and that we are a good match. Unfortunately, I just reconnected with an introduction that was introduced to me last month."
Months later a customer of Turner's Executive Detroit Dating received the identical reply from potential match "Robert," prosecutors said.
The Times said more than 100 people have filed consumer complaints about the dating Web sites, and many believe they were matched with fictitious potential dates.
