True Lies

"If they really wanted to protect people," TerBeek says, "they wouldn't rely on Rapsheets.com. They would do the investigative legwork themselves." It is unclear what the nature of Wells' actions on True were, though court documents claim he never went beyond signing up for the site and never benefited from True's database of online personal ads.

"Our client never had a single date from having his profile on [True]," claim Wells' lawyers in a letter to True's counsel. The letter also accuses True of violating Wells' privacy "by issuing press releases and prominently writing about him on [True.]"

Vest doesn't care if Wells ever got a date or not. He says that by agreeing to the True terms of use, an action that is implied in the True registration process, users represent that they are neither married nor felons. While users are not required to view a screen containing the document, the sign-up page's content stipulates that, by accepting a free trial of the Web site, they agree to those terms. For Vest, it's the principle of the thing.

"We are dealing with...the emotions in the case of married people," Vest says, "and consumer safety with respect to criminals." A spokesman for True says they've turned away 2 million users who didn't pass the Rapsheets.com background check. Those offenders who do make it through, however, don't have much to look forward to.

"If they lie about [their criminal or married status] and we find out about it," Vest says, "we turn them into a wire fraud or to the federal authorities." Or, in Wells' case, they get sued. Earlier news reports in California show True's demands as being around $200,000, but True would not release the final figures of the settlement. Vest says the company would donate the money to the Safer Online Dating Alliance, an Austin-based nonprofit organization. Vest has said that his online fight against criminals is highly personal. In 1946, his father was murdered in Gainesville when Vest was just 2 years old.

"I have no sympathy for felons largely because of that," says Vest, who grew up believing his father committed suicide. The crime remains unsolved. Vest, who became a multimillionaire after years in the finance industry with his company H.D. Vest, sold the business to Wells Fargo in 2001 and continues to search for his father's killer. Unsatisfied with retirement and disheartened by the rising divorce rate, Vest started True.com in 2004.

According to a March 2006 Pew report on online dating, about 16 million people have visited online dating sites. True, which claims 10 million registered users, trails Match.com and eHarmony.com. Though Match boasts 15 million and eHarmony claims 12 million users, it is unclear how many users on any of the sites are active, paid subscribers. TerBeek says True is just using Robert Wells to play catch-up.

"[True are] minor players in the Internet dating business," says TerBeek of what he calls an "inconsequential dating site." In early October, True announced a partnership with Friendster.com, the social networking site now eclipsed in popularity by MySpace.com. Vest is also pursuing legislation in several states, including Texas, that would require online dating services to inform users whether background checks are being conducted by the sites themselves. Until then, Vest says he will do what he can to make his own site safer.

"I can't state that a criminal can't get on True.com, but I can state that they'll be very sorry if they do."