True originally known as TrueBeginnings was an online dating service that was active from to It was founded by entrepreneur Herb Vest and was based in Plano, Texas. The company conducted a criminal background check and marital screenings for all of its communicating members. True's ads vary in theme and often feature provocatively dressed women with sex-themed taglines such as "It's nice to be naughty. On September 14, , the New York Times' "Bits" blog reported that an executive at a major Internet company said that True is delinquent on its advertising payments on his and other websites and has had to cut back on advertising as a result.
True has lobbied state lawmakers in favor of legislation requiring online dating services to disclose whether or not they conduct background checks. True is known for requiring criminal background and marital screenings for all of its communicating members. Convicted felons will not only have their accounts canceled, but are reported to the IC3 and to local authorities. The company has filed lawsuits against individuals for misrepresenting themselves on its site, under the premise that doing so is wire fraud.
Most notably, it sued Robert Wells, a year-old convicted felon and child molester from Walnut Creek, California. He had been able to avoid detection because California doesn't provide criminal data to businesses. Another True member discovered Wells' criminal history and alerted the company. The most recent lawsuit was filed in March against a convicted felon and registered sex offender from Florida who attempted to communicate with its members.
Blogger David Evans is quoted in The New York Times as saying True's competitors were upset with True's sex-themed ad campaign, saying that "they worked hard to overcome the stigma of providing these services, [a]nd True comes in, grabs the lead in page views and drives up the cost of dating keywords on the search engines for everyone else.
The New York Times and Online Dating Magazine have noted examples of customers having frustrating experiences trying to cancel their service, including the service failing to honor their cancellation request and charging them for several more months. True employed an optional, automatic "wink" to its members which seemed to come from other members, without the latter's knowledge.
