Hank Investigates: Date and switch?

David Lemay, single guy: loves reading, has a home on a lake and goes online to find a woman to share it.

David Lemay
"I never really frequented bars or anything so this was really something I knew better than the bar. So, I tried it."

He put his profile on the web and got a response from this Elle McPherson look alike.

David
"I mean come on look at her."

David emailed back, but nothing.

Hank
"Did she write back?"

David
"No."

David checked out lots of photos online but this one was a stand out and soon, he began to think: a phony.

Hank
"What did you think?"

David
"I thought it was too good to be true."

Our investigation found David isn't the only internet dater getting suspicious. These new lawsuits claim Match and Yahoo's sites have posted fake profiles on purpose to lure people into paying for membership renewals.

This one, against Match.com calls it fraud and deceptive and claims the site "is providing false images of potential new matches that do not exist."

As proof, the complaint lists different potential daters using the exact same phrases in their profiles--too unique to be a coincidence.

For instance: this profile says: "Why did the chicken cross the road? I have the real answer I swear!"

The lawsuit found seven different users wrote just the same thing!

Eight different people posted: "My favorite chocolate is Twix and I once ate 20 packs in one night."

So is it a date and switch? Neither Yahoo nor Match would talk to us on camera about it.

In court documents, though, Match.com calls the suit extortion.

They point to their site's disclaimer: if there's inaccurate content, no matter how it got there or who put it there, we are not responsible.

Consultant Mark Brooks runs "Online Personals Watch." He admits date baiting can happen but can't believe larger sites do it.

Mark Brooks, Online Personals Watch
"To have a product manager put the hand up in a meeting and say, 'hey, why don't we put up bogus emails so we can improve our conversion rates', they get fired."

Brooks says some companies filter out obscene photos and obvious fakes but they don't make sure postings are real people.

The result: bogus pictures, deceptive come-ons for pay per view web cams, and even financial rip offs.

These online photos in fact, turned out to be decoys planted by a phone company trying to trick daters into making high cost calls.

Mark Brooks, Online Personals Watch
"At the end of the day, there isn't an organization in place to kinda police the online dating sites."

So bottom line, next time you click on some one who looks like "the one"? Lawsuits now warn: it could be "the one" some one just made up.

David
"When you're doing that it is not just stealing money, but it is also if you're sending somebody who is trying to date fake things like that, then your starting to fool around with their feelings and emotions too."

Experts think online daters are targeted when their memberships are expiring. They say that's when to watch for suspicious postings. In the newsroom, I'm Hank Phillippi Ryan.