Match Group Inc., the company behind Match.com, vowed to fight a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit claiming the dating website promoted profiles created by scammers to lure new subscribers.

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The site, which allowed users to sign up for free but required them to buy a membership in order to respond to messages from other members, flagged non-subscribers with messages such as "you caught his eye" when users showed interest in their profiles -- even when it knew the users were phony and their profiles were likely to be removed shortly, the FTC claimed in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Dallas.

"Online dating services obviously shouldn't be using romance scammers as a way to fatten their bottom line," Andrew Smith, director of the commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. The agency also alleges that Match failed to provide services to consumers who unsuccessfully disputed charges and made it difficult for them to cancel their subscriptions.

Match.com, however, says the agency "misrepresented internal emails and relied on cherry-picked data" to support claims in the suit, which seeks an injunction barring Match.com from similar behavior in the future, civil penalties and restitution to injured consumers.

"For nearly 25 years, Match has been focused on helping people find love, and fighting the criminals that try to take advantage of users," the company said in a statement. "We've developed industry-leading tools and AI that block 96 percent of bots and fake accounts from our site within a day."

Match Group Inc. also controls dating platforms and apps such as Tinder, OKCupid and PlentyOfFish.

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