Porn star becomes the face of group suing Match.com for $1.5billion - and you may recognize her because she claims her pictures have been used in 'hundreds of fake profiles'

'Melissa Midwest' Harrison claims that her pictures have been used in 'hundreds' of fake profiles on the dating site



She is spearheading a lawsuit against the company along with 'thousands' including famous actors, military personnel and Facebook users



The group are seeking for $1.5billion in damages

A porn star has joined the multibillion-dollar lawsuit against Match.com accusing the website of defrauding its heart-seeking users.

'Melissa Midwest' Harrington, 31, has now taken over from part-time Florida model Yuliana Avalos to become the face of the lawsuit.

The class-action trademark-infringement suit accuses the internet dating giant of posting tens of thousands of fake dating profiles.

Melissa Midwest: The porn star is suing dating sites that she says created fake user profiles using her pictures Suing: 'Melissa Midwest' Harrington, 31, has now taken over from part-time Florida model Yuliana Avalos to become the face of the lawsuit

The New York Post has reported how the website relies of photos of hot women to attract additional paying customers.

'Melissa Midwest' whose claim to fame is once being among the top 10 most-searched names on the Internet claims she never joined the dating sites but that her copyrighted photos were used by the website without her consent.

Last year, Yuliana Avalos, a part-time model and mother also made similar allegations.



She too claimed that she has never joined the dating site, but says that her pictures have been used in hundreds of fake profiles without her consent.



Logging on: Melissa Midwest whose claim to fame is once being among the top 10 most-searched names on the Internet claims she never joined the dating sites but that her copyrighted photos were used by the website without her consent

'Not a day goes by when someone doesn't tell me that they saw my pictures posted on Match.com or another web site,' Ms Avalos said.



The lawsuit accuses Match.com of deliberately signing-off on making thousands of fraudulent profiles using her pictures along with thousands of other fake profiles using stolen images to boost profits.

Match.com charges $35.99 monthly for standard service.

It alleges ultimately, there are thousands, possibly millions, of photos that have been taken from Facebook and other sites, only to be included as part of a fake profile or false ad for Match.com.

The face of a hundred catfish: Model Yuliana Avalos is also suing Match.com for $1.5billion as part of the same lawsuit because hundreds of users have used her pictures in their profiles without her consent

Growing problem: Thousands have joined the class-action lawsuit against the dating site, including famous actors, military personnel and Facebook users

Not me: Using facial recognition software, Avalos found over 200 profiles using her pictures

The group claim that Match.com broke copyright laws and committed common law fraud by approving the fake profiles when they easily could have weeded them out with facial recognition software.

'When I saw how this free software worked, it can scan billions of images simultaneously,' said Ms Avalos' attorney Evan Spencer. 'They can screen and make sure that the photo never appears again.'

Through the facial recognition software, Mr Spencer was able to figure out that Ms Avalos' picture was used in over 200 profiles.



Ms Harrington, of Omaha, Nebraska became famous after posting X-rated photos and videos of herself on her Web site melissamidwest.com.

The suits alleges the Web sites’ subscribers are routinely being 'scammed' out of user fees by 'criminals' working out of Internet cafes overseas in Nigeria, Ghana and Russia.

'While Ms. Harrington is the most famous of all men or women whose photographs have been used consistently in fake Match dating profiles, she is the only one of thousands of others including famous actors, military personnel and Facebook users of men and women whose likeness and images have been hijacked by defendants and used as avatars in fake profiles and used without their consent.' the suit says.

Match.com - which uses the catchphrase 'more dates, more relationships, more marriages' - currently ranks as the second largest dating site with 96million registered users, but only around 1.4million are active profiles.



A Match.com spokesman said the actual 'scam' is the lawsuit, saying it is 'filled with outlandish conspiracy theories and clumsy fabrications in lieu of factual or legal basis.'

The suit which was was originally filed on behalf of Ms. Avalos in November asked for $1.5 billion in compensatory and punitive damages.

Match.com was launched in 1995 and is owned by IAC, a media and internet company based in New York.



