Dating site virus might be duping dopes

AN ATTENTION SEEKING dating web site called Beautifulpeople.com has warned members, and yes, the media, that it has a virus that has let "ugly" singletons join up.

In a charming press release the firm claims that it has been hit with a "Shrek" virus - you know like the Ogre in the film, which in the past month has let a barrel load of "uglies" join.

"BeautifulPeople.com, the dating and networking community exclusively for good-looking people, has been hit by a virus that allowed 30,000 'ugly' people to invade the site," it said in a statement.

"Normally, everyone must pass a strict 'rating' stage, where existing members vote on whether new applicants are beautiful enough to join the site. But the rating module was brought down last month, allowing anyone - regardless of looks - to be accepted."

It is appalling that such elitist places exist, so why anyone who might previously been been denied membership would now to choose to join is a mystery. But join they have. Allegedly.

"We got suspicious when tens of thousands of new members were accepted over a six-week period, many of whom were no oil painting," said Greg Hodge, managing director of Beautifulpeople.com.

"We responded immediately, repairing the damage from the 'Shrek Virus' and putting every new member back into the rating module for a legitimate and democratic vote. The result is that we have lost over 30,000 recent members."

According to the release the firm has 'sincere regret' for those unfortunates that were wrongly admitted, and Hodge - who we are rapidly taking a dislike to - added, "It must be a bitter pill to swallow, but better to have had a slice of heaven then never to have tasted it at all."

The so-called Shrek 'virus', if it indeed exists, is being investigated internally and according to early "investigations" it could be the work of a former employee.

Although it caused no damage, to the web site that is, the Shrek 'virus' did not impact on member privacy or security, according to the firm.

Confusingly, since this was apparently only an internal thing, the firm has employed some sort of secret service - we do not know whether it wears a black uniform or not - to protect against any further attacks.

"A team of beauty police from around the world has been recruited to guard against any further infiltrators who do not come up to the expected standards," concluded the press release.

The whole thing stinks to The INQUIRER, even if the Daily Mail, the Telegraph and Fox 'News' took it at perfect (*cough*) face value.

We are not alone either, and over at security firm Sophos the claims are being debunked by Graham Cluley.

"BeautifulPeople announced that a former employee placed the malware before leaving the team. It just all seems a little too convenient that this 'malware' has generated a huge amount of publicity for the site, without causing any trouble for current or future members," he said.

"If BeautifulPeople's story about a Shrek virus is true, I'm the spitting image of Brad Pitt. The firm has conducted impressive publicity stunts in the past, and this is just the latest - dreamt up against a backdrop of newspaper headlines about big companies facing genuine security breaches." µ