Class Action: Ashley Madison Uses Fembots to Lure Members

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A resident of Maryland is suing Avid Life Media Inc., the parent company of the popular extramarital affairs website Ashley Madison, claiming he was duped into paying money on their dating website by “women” who claims were most likely “fembots” or computer-generated fake profiles.

According to the fembot class action lawsuit filed in Maryland federal court, plaintiff Christopher Russell alleges Avid Life violated Maryland consumer protection laws in order to unlawfully profit by marketing that Ashley Madison had over 5 million female profiles.

However, Russell claims that Ashley Madison created over 70,000 female bots or fembots that allegedly sent male Ashley Madison users fake messages. Russell alleges that based on messages he received through Ashley Madison, including some he suspects were sent by fembots, he spent $100 in order to continue conversing with women on the extramarital dating site.

This fembot class action lawsuit is the first of its kind, as most of the other Ashley Madison lawsuits allege the website failed to protect consumers’ personal data from the now infamous July data breach.

This particular Ashley Madison fembot class action lawsuit stems from an August report conducted by a Gizmodo reporter who analyzed Ashley Madison’s source code, which allegedly revealed the existence of over 70,000 fembots also known as “engagers.” These engagers were allegedly programmed by Ashley Madison engineers to interact with male users when they signed into the website.

The report goes on to claim Ashley Madison’s internal emails allegedly show that Avid Life paid individuals to make fake female profiles as well as to engage in conversations with men on Ashley Madison. Additionally, personal emails sent by former Avid Life CEO Noel Biderman demonstrate that he pushed engineers to create the engager fembots and was allegedly aware that most of Ashley Madison’s revenue stemmed from the fembots flirting with male Ashley Madison users.

In his fembot class action lawsuit, Russell claims he joined Ashley Madison after separating from his wife. He alleges he relied on the Avid Life dating website’s representations of how many women use Ashley Madison as well as the messages he received from women once he signed into Ashley Madison, which asked him to pay more money in order start conversations with these female users. In retrospect, the plaintiff now suspects that these messages were most likely sent by the fembots.

Furthermore, the plaintiff’s attorney claims that because this Ashley Madison class action lawsuit is bringing forth a fraud claim instead of a privacy claim like the majority of other current Ashley Madison cases, it may be easier to achieve Class certification because Russell is not basing his allegations on the Ashley Madison terms of service.

The Ashley Madison fembot class action lawsuit states that Russell is seeking to certify a Class of Ashley Madison consumers that includes at least 25,000 people. The plaintiff is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, and injunctive relief.

Russell is represented by Gary E. Mason and Esfand Y. Nafisi of Whitfield, Bryson & Mason LLP; Charles LaDuca of Cuneo, Gilbert & LaDuca LLP, and Michael L. Braunstein of the Braunstein Law Firm, PLLC.

The Ashley Madison Fembot Class Action Lawsuit is Christopher Russell v. Avid Life Media Inc., et al., Case No. 8:15-cv-02693, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

UPDATE: On Dec. 9, 2015, several class action lawsuits filed over the Ashley Madison data breach were consolidated in Missouri federal court.

UPDATE 2: On Apr. 6, 2016, a Missouri federal judge ruled that plaintiffs seeking to act as Class representatives in the Ashley Madison data breach class action lawsuit cannot use pseudonyms and must disclose their real names.

UPDATE 3: On Apr. 18, 2016, the makers of the Ashley Madison dating website, Avid Dating Life Inc., argued that the Class shouldnot be able to use private informationeven though it has been leaked to the press.

UPDATE 4: On June 24, 2016, in response to a recent federal court ruling, 18 plaintiffs who have filed suit against Ashley Madison over the highly-publicized data breach have amended their complaint to include their own names.

UPDATE 5: On July 14, 2017, Ashley Madison’s parent company agreed topay $11.2 million to settleclaims arising from a data breach that revealed personal information about those using the adultery dating website. UPDATE 6: The Ashley Madison data breach class action settlement is now open.

 Click here to file a claim.