We Examined How Hookupcloud.com Operates, & Found It To Be A Scam
Posted on May 1, 2015 | By Dating Critic | 5 responses
Site Reviewed:
Hookupcloud.com:
Summary Of The Scam:
- You Need A Credit Card To Get Your Free Membership
- Virtual Cupids Called "Online Legates" Are Used To "Entertain" You
- Email Messages Sent Free Members From "Online Legates"
- Friends Requests Sent To Free Members From "Online Legates"
- "Online Legates" Are Not Genuine Members So You Can't Meet Them In Person
- "Online Legates" Are For Your Entertainment Experience
You Need A Credit Card To Get Your Free Membership:
Why would a dating site such as Hookupcloud.com need your credit card information if according to them the site is free of charge? On the site they even state your credit card will not be charged for free access membership. They say that a valid credit card is required to activate your free access membership. The only problem we have is that when we actually look at the fine print on the page you actually are charged $39.95 monthly from HookupCloud and also $39.72 monthly from an adult porn site called Xxxporncloud.com. Isn't the site breaking the law claiming that it's free but then actually charge you 2 monthly subscription rates? Yes, it's fraud and they must be breaking the law but for some reason they still haven't being shut down for their deceptive and illegal business methods.
What we find shocking is that people actually fall for this scam. Why would anyone give up their credit card information if they specifically state that the site is free. The smartest thing you can do obviously is not give this site or any site that asks for your credit card information when claiming to be free. This is the smartest way to safeguard yourself, and also save yourself from quite a bit of grief and possibly having to cancel your credit card.
(You get billed $39.72 on a monthly recurring charge for a membership that they claim is free $0.00. The charges come from a porn site called Xxxporncloud.com.)
Virtual Cupids Called "Online Legates" Used To "Entertain" You:
Don't get duped by all the hot girls you see floating around in the members area. We would have to say that a very large portion of the women you see are not actual members of Hookupcloud.com. Most of the female member profiles on the site are called "Online Legates". According to the website an "Online Legate" is a virtual profile that doesn't correspond to any actual members. To break it down in layman's terms that means that the profile is 100% fabricated and is not a real female member that you're looking at. But which profiles are fabricated and which are legitimate? The problem is you cannot determine which girls are real and which ones have been created by the staff of Hookupcloud.com.
"Online Legate" profile contains photos and all the other other relevant type of information you would expect to see in a legit member profile but of course these are completely fabricated by the site. "Online Legates" are part of the site's marketing strategy to give the appearance that their dating service has a large ratio of female members using it. This strategy is used to attract male members to sign up and purchase a monthly subscription.
Taken from the terms page:
"ONLINE LEGATES: hookupcloud.com UTILIZES VIRTUAL PROFILES THAT DO NOT CORRESPOND TO ACTUAL MEMBERS. An ONLINE LEGATE may be a digital actor, an avatar or a synthespian (e.g. a computer generated "person" or "character") You acknowledge that You understand that some of the profiles and Members displayed on them are not actual members of the site. ONLINE LEGATES are not associated with any other user of the site, but are sent to You in an effort to promote broader enjoyment, additional activity and fuller participation in all our Services By accepting these Terms you further acknowledge and agree that any information or pictures displayed to you via an ONLINE LEGATES profile does not relate to an actual person but has been included for the above mentioned purposes.
Email Messages Sent Free Members From "Online Legates" :
Part of the "Online Legates" Marketing deception is the sending of fabricated emails that are emailed to male members of the site. The email messages look legitimate to the unknowing eye. But, when you start receiving multiple emails in a short time span most people become alert that the something is not quite right.
The "Online Legates" program sends out automated email messages to get members with a free account to purchase a monthly subscription. If you are not aware of it you can't communicate back with anyone who has sent you an email unless you have a full membership to the site. This is the major reason that the "Online Legates" program sends fabricated email communications to members with a free account.
It's impossible to tell which members are real and which ones are not. When we examine the emails we received there was no identification to show that we are receiving emails from an "Online Legate". But, as a rule of thumb if it looks too good to be true it probably is. In this situation all the women emailing us were either completely nude or scantily clothed and all were very attractive. It didn't make much sense that email messages we're being sent from nude women looking to hook up with us. The member profile we used for this investigation was void of any information. No images were included in our member profile and any information was minimal. It didn't seem right that we were contacted by the amount of women who contacted us. After reading the terms and conditions it all made sense, that these were virtual cupids aka "Online Legates". The pieces to the puzzle fit together perfectly after we read what it was all about. You can take a look at the terms and conditions that discuss "Online Legate" here.
Taken from the terms page:
"an ONLINE LEGATE may provide an electronic introduction to new or existing hookupcloud.com features or functionality. The ONLINE LEGATE services can include the posting of information, pictures and/or communications directed to You. Such messages may take the form of any communication currently permitted on the Website. the ONLINE LEGATE may contact both free Members and paid Subscribers via text based communication either within the site and/or via email notifications in order to increase activity and to monitor the compliance to these Terms."
Friends Requests Sent To Free Members From "Online Legates":
Another part of the "Online Legates" marketing strategy is to send fake friend requests to members with a free account. We received multiple requests from female members who requested to add us as a friend. It's all a marketing strategy to get male members to become interested in the females asking for a friends request. The con here is when you try to communicate back to these "Online Legates" (which many males think are legitimate women) you are asked to buy a subscription to the services. All the friends request are automated by a computer program.
(2 of the many "Online Legates" that sent us automated friends requests.)
Taken from the terms page:
"You understand, acknowledge, and agree that some of the user profiles posted on this site may be fictitious and operated by the Site or its contractors. These profiles and related messages are conspicuously labeled with the Online Cupids logo [online cupid logo] "
"Online Legates" Are Not Genuine Members So You Can't Meet Them In Person:
As stated in the terms and conditions of Hookupcloud it states that "Online Legates" are for entertainment purposes only and will not result in any type of physical meeting between the "Online Legate" and you. This only further proves that an "Online Legate" is not a real person and is strictly there as a marketing strategy that is geared towards male members.
Taken from the terms page:
"You understand, acknowledge, and agree that some of the user profiles posted on this site may be fictitious and operated by the Site or its contractors. These profiles and related messages are conspicuously labeled with the Online Cupids logo [online cupid logo] "
"Online Legates" Are For Your Entertainment Experience:
Apparently "Online Legates" are for entertainment purposes. The problem we have is we don't understand what type of entertainment that we are getting when receiving fictitious correspondence from non-existent female members. How does it help a guy looking to hook up with a girl if they are receiving totally fabricated emails from a girl that is not even a real member of the site?
Taken from the terms page:
"If You responds to, or initiates any communications or interactions with our ONLINE LEGATES You fully understand, acknowledge, and agree that any response or exchange between the ONLINE LEGATE and You is solely for entertainment purposes, and will not result in an physical meeting between the ONLINE LEGATE and You but is to mediate. "
How To Contact The Site:
- By Phone:
- By Email: [email protected]
- By Web Site: Hookupcloud.com/go/customer_service.php
- By Address: 75 Prodromou Avenue 1 World Parkview House 4th Floor 2063 Nicosia, Cyprus
How To Cancel Your Trial & Monthly Membership:
If you want to cancel your paid trial or monthly subscription to this site you can use the various methods that we have listed below to do so.
- Cancel By Email: [email protected]
- Cancel On Site: Hookupcloud.com/go/customer_service.php
- Cancel By Phone: 1-888-649-9178
- Cancel By Mail:
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This charge will appear on your cardholder statement as 'SOLA*dychart.com 8555799134
Solastech Ltd., 3 St. Leger Court, Newbury, RG14 ITW, United Kingdom'
Domain Registrant Info:
- Registrant Name: Brousko Investments Ltd.
- Registered: on March 6, 2012
- Hosting Company: Brousko Investments Ltd.
- Hosting Location: 800 Petrolia Rd. Unit 8, North York, ON, M3J-3K4, Canada
- Ip address: 216.105.81.43
- Name servers: ns1.hookupcloud.com, ns2.hookupcloud.com
- Registrant Email: [email protected]
- Registrant Phone: 357-220-07247
Other Sites On Same IP Servers:
None
Traffic Info:
- Unique Daily Visitors: 48,333
- Unique Monthly Visitors: 1,450,000
The Judgment:
We don't really see much of a point in using this service to meet women. Since the large majority of women are"Online Legates" (fake women) there is no reason to spend your hard earned money to interact with what we would deem robots. Your time is better spent in other places that actually have created a real service to meet real people. Hookupcloud.com is not a dating site that is focused on bringing real people together. In actuality it has been created to make you think there are real people on the site when in fact it's all a sham created to steal your hard-earned money.
Find Legitimate Women Here:
If you want to find real women on genuine dating sites go here.
File Consumer Complaints & Report Abuse:
- Contact the FTC: File a consumer complaint to report financial losses as a result of purchasing a subscription to this service.
- Contact the hosting provider: site:Colosseum.com email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] or call: 1 416-739-7873
Unfortunately I am one of these people that have innocently thought this site was legit. $54.95! Was the total amount debited from my account. I have contacted them demanding my money be returned. They have responded saying they would so we'll wait and see. Thanks for the online info.
That sucks and sorry to hear that. Sorry to hear your’e out $54.95 with HookupCloud.com. Hopefullt these sites like Hookup Cloud start getting attention from law enforcement soon!
My card was used by a family member to join this site and so far 2 payments 1 at £49.00 and another at £35.00 and constant charges of £4.95 are taken , can I get this money back and I have tryed to cancel and nothing has happened 😕 So annoyed
Call your bank t get your money back.