It will soon work here, but with so many un-named streets, it

Users, traders and regulators call for more data to combat misuse of cyberspace

Suzanne Beaubien
Sun

For many people, a typical morning on the computer goes something like this: check e-mail messages, then scan Facebook for new friend requests, rearrange the DVD queue on Zip.ca, pay some bills, and download a couple of songs from iTunes before checking for new job postings.

All these online transactions require signing on using a password and user name. Some also require additional personal information, such as address and telephone number, or credit card data.

And according to the annual technology predictions report by international business services giant Deloitte, Internet users should prepare themselves for even more rigorous authentication in 2008 as the ability to be anonymous online declines.

“Over and over, we’re going to see more putting your name down,” says Duncan Stewart, director of research at Deloitte Canada Research and one of the report’s authors.

With users, traders and regulators calling for more widespread authentication of users’ identities to combat malicious use of the Internet by pedophiles, online auction fraudsters, and defamatory commentators, Duncan says that’s proof the technology is growing up.

“Back in the day, the whole point of the Internet was its anonymity.” Early chatrooms wouldn’t accept real names, he noted.

And now, while you might be able to read your favourite blog without signing on, these days fewer and fewer will let you comment without a user ID. Even some news sites block users without an individual log-in ID.

That means remembering a lot of passwords, and filling out a lot of forms. And each time you do that, you could be opening yourself up to fraudsters seeking valuable personal information that can be used to steal your identity — both online and in the real world.

“Most people use a very small number of passwords . . . that becomes more of a security risk,” says Dick Hardt, CEO of Vancouver-based identity and access management developer Sxip Identity.

Methods used to authenticate identity are imperfect, says Stewart, who predicts a new industry aimed at authentication will soon emerge to change all that.

“Everybody should have the right to be anonymous,” says Richard Rosenberg, president of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Association and a board member of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.

“It’s one of the most important things, especially in countries where they have political problems, like China,” says Rosenberg, a professor and author who has written about the social impact of computers.

However, authentication protocols currently being developed will allow for both more security and anonymity — at the same time.

Hardt likens the digital credential, called OpenID, to a driver’s licence for the Internet. With it, computer users can have different online identities and share personal information more easily — but only as much as they want to with each site.

The concept, developed by Hardt and other industry leaders, is gaining momentum. Last month, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, IBM, and VeriSign all joined the OpenID Foundation’s board, vowing to make a universal sign-on a reality in the near future.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Technology makes it easier to target companies in many different ways

DEREK SANKEY
Sun

Security breaches and fraud are taking a big bite out of the profits of small businesses across Canada, and the increasing use of technology means companies are exposed to an even greater number and variety of attacks, security experts say.

“One of the shifts we’ve started to see in Canada is through a lot of the technology involved, small businesses are being targeted more frequently by things like phishing attacks,” says Bruce Cowper, security lead for Microsoft Canada.

“Companies are starting to realize they can use their security posture . . . as a competitive advantage,” says Cowper, adding there are many tools to help small businesses reduce the losses from all types of technologyrelated crimes.

It’s not just technology that today’s crooks are using, though. Tried and tested scams and frauds, break-ins and shoplifting continue to represent major losses for companies when looking at the big picture.

A report from market research firm The Nilson Report shows that all types of commercial frauds cost North American businesses more than $20 billion annually, while 66 per cent of small business in Canada experienced fraud in 2006, up from 52 per cent a year earlier.

The Retail Council of Canada, meanwhile, reports 87 per cent of Canada’s small and medium

retail business owners were victimized by retail crime last year. Shoplifting alone drained an estimated $1.28 billion from the Canadian retail sector.

Technology, however, is often at the core of fraud in today’s market. They include debit and credit card frauds, skimming devices and pinhole cameras to capture personal identification numbers, identity theft, false return-of-merchandise scams, phishing attacks via email, computer viruses, and hackers who compromise businesses’ websites.

Jay Park, vice-president of a 15-person real estate consulting practice in Calgary called Six Real Estate Consulting Ltd., says technology plays a big role in his mobile workforce.

“As more technology comes into play, the more important it is for all of that information to be very secure,” says Park. “We’re at a critical stage where we’ve grown substantially . . . so to keep it rolling you have to be cognizant of the fact that if we lose everything, you’re at a standstill.”

Alfred Huger, Symantec’s security response vice-president, says the increasing capabilities of today’s wireless devices, such as highly sophisticated cellphones, means companies need to pay greater attention to the security provided on those mobile systems.

“You’re walking around with a PC in your pocket,” he says. “It’s no different than a laptop.”

The good news is that more tools are flooding the market in response to the new technologies.

“The other big shift we’re seeing with smaller and medium businesses is to concentrate on investment in management technologies,” says Cowper. Instead of focusing solely on firewalls and virus software, new tools help owners manage their security by automatically monitoring for updates and security patches, as well as passwords and access settings.

It’s up to every business owner to conduct a thorough risk assessment of every vulnerability and to take proactive measures to reduce exposure. Experts say owners should train employees and make use of every resource at their disposal, whether it is technology or otherwise.

“An awful lot of this can be prevented through awareness,” says Cowper.

BEV CLINE
Sun

If you are moving house this spring, make sure you don’t inadvertently set yourself up as a potential victim of identity theft.

Criminals look for easy ways to steal your personal information — SIN number, credit card numbers, birth date, banking information — so they can take on your identity and use it for criminal purposes, such as negotiating a fraudulent mortgage or obtaining credit.

In the excitement and rush that usually goes along with moving house, it’s easy to overlook important steps that can help safeguard your personal information.

The most i mportant advice is to maintain control of your personal data, says Sgt. Atallah Sadaka of the Organized Fraud Squad of the Ottawa Police. This control needs to extend from the time you begin to plan your move, until well after you are settled in your new home, he says.

The most obvious opportunity for fraudsters to gain access to your information is by simply removing mail from either your old or your new mailbox. Which is why it is important to let Canada Post know you are moving and to make arrangements for you to receive your mail in a manner that minimizes the danger of theft.

Canada Post provides a number of options to manage your mail when you move, says spokesman Francois Legault. These include change of address or hold mail services, which can be arranged at a post office or through www.smartmoves.ca.

In addition, you may want to call your credit card company, bank, or any other organization that sends you mail containing your personal information. Furnish them with your new address or ask them to refrain from sending correspondence to you until you call to notify them that you have moved.

If you are expecting items such as new or renewed credit cards or booklets of blank cheques to be delivered to your home, consider picking them up at your bank, says Sadaka, who notes you will need to produce proper identification at time of pickup.

As you pack, sort out your old financial documents, with an eye to discarding those that are not required for tax or other purposes. And, if you don’t already own one, invest in a shredder to dispose of these documents, says Sadaka. Placing the documents into recycling receptacles for public pickup is an invitation for criminals.

After you move, don’t relax your vigilance, says Legault, who suggests that as part of your preparation for moving you compile a check list of expected mail. After the move, “it’s important to verify that you are receiving all the mail you anticipated,” he says. Consult your checklist of expected bills, statements, cheques or pay stubs, even magazines.

If they do not arrive in the expected time frame, take action. Contact the sender to see if these items were indeed sent, and if they were, contact Canada Post and the police. If you suspect your identity has been compromised, investigate immediately.

BY BEV CLINECanwest News Service

If you are moving house this spring, make sure you don’t inadvertently set yourself up as a potential victim of identity theft.

Criminals look for easy ways to steal your personal information — SIN number, credit card numbers, birth date, banking information — so they can take on your identity and use it for criminal purposes, such as negotiating a fraudulent mortgage or obtaining credit.

In the excitement and rush that usually goes along with moving house, it’s easy to overlook important steps that can help safeguard your personal information.

The most i mportant advice is to maintain control of your personal data, says Sgt. Atallah Sadaka of the Organized Fraud Squad of the Ottawa Police. This control needs to extend from the time you begin to plan your move, until well after you are settled in your new home, he says.

The most obvious opportunity for fraudsters to gain access to your information is by simply removing mail from either your old or your new mailbox. Which is why it is important to let Canada Post know you are moving and to make arrangements for you to receive your mail in a manner that minimizes the danger of theft.

Canada Post provides a number of options to manage your mail when you move, says spokesman Francois Legault. These include change of address or hold mail services, which can be arranged at a post office or through www.smartmoves.ca.

In addition, you may want to call your credit card company, bank, or any other organization that sends you mail containing your personal information. Furnish them with your new address or ask them to refrain from sending correspondence to you until you call to notify them that you have moved.

If you are expecting items such as new or renewed credit cards or booklets of blank cheques to be delivered to your home, consider picking them up at your bank, says Sadaka, who notes you will need to produce proper identification at time of pickup.

As you pack, sort out your old financial documents, with an eye to discarding those that are not required for tax or other purposes. And, if you don’t already own one, invest in a shredder to dispose of these documents, says Sadaka. Placing the documents into recycling receptacles for public pickup is an invitation for criminals.

After you move, don’t relax your vigilance, says Legault, who suggests that as part of your preparation for moving you compile a check list of expected mail. After the move, “it’s important to verify that you are receiving all the mail you anticipated,” he says. Consult your checklist of expected bills, statements, cheques or pay stubs, even magazines.

If they do not arrive in the expected time frame, take action. Contact the sender to see if these items were indeed sent, and if they were, contact Canada Post and the police. If you suspect your identity has been compromised, investigate immediately.

Cracking computer passwords is easier than you might think

Danny Bradbury
Province

You may think that your online information is safe, but in reality it’s only as safe as the password you use.

That handful of characters is all that stands between an online criminal and the contents of your EBay, Amazon or online banking account. How can you make sure that it doesn’t get compromised?

Short passwords are possibly the worst kind to use, because they are relatively easy to crack in what security experts call a brute force attack. Even the most basic modern desktop computers have enough processing power to guess passwords simply by trying different combinations of letters repeatedly. The fewer letters there are in a word, the more likely it is to be cracked.

Using real words (rather than random collections of letters and numbers that don’t mean anything) is also dangerous. Software exists that uses ‘dictionary attacks’ against passwords, running through hundreds of thousands of words in the English language on the assumption that people want to use a word they will remember. Somehow, ‘8uiklg5ybs’ just doesn’t stick in a person’s memory, whereas the name of their pet does.

“Either make up a scheme to generate good passwords, or use a random password generator,” says Will Whittaker, security expert and organizer of the CanSec West electronic security conference that takes place in Vancouver at the end of March. But don’t be tempted to use that password for everything. If it is compromised, thieves could use it to pilfer everything, including webmail accounts, banking sites, and e-commerce services.

Another option is to use pass phrases rather than passwords. Using a combination of words meaningful only to you (such as a line buried deep in your favourite book, for example, or some other mantra that you keep private) can create a long enough security key to thwart even the most determined attacker.

Such techniques may seem paranoid, but in an age when identity theft is a growing threat, some basic precautions could save you an awfully big headache in the future.

© The Vancouver Province 2008

 

Suzanne Beaubien
Province

Anyone who has been shocked to find a black mark on their credit report will tell you how hard it can be to get your lending record back in order. And even worse than finding a long-forgotten unpaid bill is stumbling upon a credit card or loan supposedly taken out in your name by someone else.

Calgarian Anna Sommer had that experience last August when she and her husband were negotiating the pre-approval process for a loan with Royal Bank.

“They were reading me the stuff that came up on my credit file,” said Sommer, 27. “And he mentioned this CIBC Visa, but I’ve never had anything to do with CIBC.”

The card had a $15,000 limit, and was carrying about $6,000 in debt. The fact that someone was making payments on it didn’t do much to calm Sommer’s fears about identity theft.

Ontario is leading the way with new legislation that aims to stem such surprises by forcing credit lenders to authenticate the identities of their customers if an alert is placed on their file. Since the new law went into effect on Jan. 1, Equifax Canada Inc. — one of the two major credit-reporting agencies in Canada — has placed over 800 such alerts on Ontarians’ credit files, says John Russo, senior attorney for Equifax.

Consumers across Canada can put similar alerts on their credit files, adds Russo. There are two types: “lost and stolen wallet” alerts and “true fraud victim” alerts. On average, Equifax receives over 1,200 true name fraud alerts every month, while lost and stolen wallet alerts range from 4,000-7,000 each month.

But whether those alerts are effective is debatable, says Andrew Inniss, general manager of Solutions Credit Counselling Service Inc., a debt-management company based in Surrey.

“They’re only as effective as the implementation of them,” says Inniss, noting it’s up to the credit lender to take action on the alerts.

In Sommer’s case, TransUnion investigated and removed the card from her file. While she never found out if it was an error, or if someone had truly stolen her identity, Sommer says she’ll be more careful in the future and will check her “It was a good lesson and it came out as best as it could,” she says.

© The Vancouver Province 2008

 

FUTURE ID: Developing digital protocols to protect online security and anonymity

SUZANNE BEAUBIEN
Province

For many people, a typical morning on the computer goes something like this: check e-mail messages, scan Facebook for new friend requests, rearrange the DVD queue on Zip.ca, pay bills, download a couple of songs from iTunes before checking for new job postings.

All these online transactions require signing on, using a password and user name. Some also require additional personal information, such as address and telephone number, or credit card data.

And according to the annual technology predictions report by international business-services giant Deloitte, Internet users should prepare themselves for even more rigorous authentication in 2008 as the ability to be anonymous online declines.

“Over and over, we’re going to see more putting your name down,” says Duncan Stewart, director of research at Deloitte Canada Research and one of the report’s authors.

With users, traders and regulators calling for more widespread authentication of users’ identities to combat malicious use of the Internet by pedophiles, online-auction fraudsters, and defamatory commentators, Duncan says that’s proof the technology is growing up.

“Back in the day, the whole point of the Internet was its anonymity.” Early chatrooms wouldn’t accept real names, he noted.

And now, while you might be able to read your favourite blog without signing on, these days fewer and fewer will let you comment without a user ID. Even some news sites block users without an individual log-in ID.

That means remembering a lot of passwords and filling out a lot of forms. And each time you do that, you could be opening yourself up to fraudsters seeking valuable personal information that can be used to steal your identity — both online and in the real world.

“Most people use a very small number of passwords … that becomes more of a security risk,” says Dick Hardt, CEO of Vancouver-based identity and access management developer Sxip Identity.

Current methods used to authenticate identity are imperfect, says Stewart, who predicts a new industry aimed at authentication will soon emerge to change all that.

“Anytime you make a password that is secure enough, it’s too hard for people to remember, and they write it on a sticky note,” which defeats the purpose, says Stewart. In the future, he predicts, computer users will prove their identities using a single sign-on user profile — complete with photo and voice recognition — and the risk of online identity theft will go down.

But for some privacy advocates, that idea is terrifying.

“Everybody should have the right to be anonymous,” says Richard Rosenberg, president of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Association and a board member of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.

“It’s one of the most important things, especially in countries where they have political problems, like China,” says Rosenberg, a professor and author who has written about the social impact of computers.

“For people in some places, it’s a question of, ‘How can I carry on a political debate if I’m not anonymous?’”

There’s enormous pressure to develop systems that can identify suspicious behaviour, adds Rosenberg.

However, some industry leaders say you can have it both ways.

“Definitely in some parts of the Internet we want people to be accountable,” says Hardt.

“But there’s no way you’re going to have complete authentication.”

However, authentication protocols currently being developed will allow for both more security and anonymity — at the same time.

Hardt likens the digital credential, called OpenID, to a driver’s licence for the Internet.

With it, computer users can have different online identities and share personal information more easily — but only as much as they want to with each site.

“You can have your online church group and your online gambling group and the two don’t have to know about each other,” explains Hardt.

This digital driver’s licence could also help reduce the risk of data theft by limiting how many companies and organizations store your valuable information.

The concept, developed by Hardt and other industry leaders, is gaining momentum. Last month, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, IBM, and VeriSign all joined the OpenID Foundation’s board, vowing to make a universal sign-on a reality in the near future.

Here are some of the current schemes you should watch out for

Mike Gillespie
Sun

The Gaelic elder who centuries ago concluded “there’s no greater fraud than a promise not kept,” would stand aghast at the sheer pervasiveness of the problem today. Few segments of society, in fact, have escaped the attention of modern-day scammers — much to the despair of law enforcers trying to bust them.

HERE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE SCAMS AT PLAY IN NEIGHBOURHOODS NEAR YOU:

– APARTMENT SCAMS: Toronto police arrested a 35-year-old man last fall after he rented an apartment in that city, paid the first and last month’s rent then advertised the unit for rent on the Craigslist website, posing as a landlord. By the time the fraud squad caught up with him he had re-rented the unit to at least three different unsuspecting tenants and collected rent and security deposits from each before skipping town.

– TELEMARKETING: One of the largest cross-border telemarketing schemes ever uncovered in Canada was broken up two years ago when Canadian and U.S. investigators moved in on a Montreal-based operation preying mostly on American seniors. The scammers were offering low-interest loans and credit cards in return for a $250 sign-up fee. Police estimate that over a five-year period the scheme bilked victims of more than $43 million.

– E-COMMERCE: The fastest-growing segment of the North American economy has also become one of the biggest feeding grounds for fraudsters. CyberSource, an e-commerce payment management company representing 351 online Canadian and U.S. merchants that recorded more than $53 billion in online sales in 2006, estimates that last year’s losses, when tallied up, will exceed $3.6 billion. Although the percentage of online revenues lost to payment fraud has been declining over the last four years, to 1.4 per cent, CyberSource reports that total losses have been steadily increasing with the highest-risk category still international sales.

– TAX-RETURN FRAUD: Canada‘s Department of Finance was forced to broadcast an e-mail fraud alert just over a year ago when identity-theft scammers began sending out fake tax-refund notices under its letterhead. The official-looking e-mail messages promised refunds within six to nine days after victims returned an attached tax form — in the process compromising their personal and financial information, including credit card and social insurance numbers.

– DEBIT-CARD FRAUD: Escalating levels of fraud involving debit cards has prompted Interac, Canada‘s largest debit card network, to begin embedding computer chips in its cards. The chip cards, which began appearing last October, offer “a new standard in payment security,” promised Interac Association president Mark O’Connell. Such smart-card technology is already being used successfully in France, where debit card fraud has now dropped by eight per cent. Debit card fraud in Canada runs at about $70 million a year, Interac estimates.

– PHISHING ATTACK: Scammers last fall began using the Better Business Bureau’s name to advise companies of alleged complaints against them. Target companies were offered an e-mail hyperlink to download a copy of the complaint. By doing so, the companies exposed themselves to computer viruses that helped channel their confidential business information to scam operators.

– FAKE MONEY ORDERS: Canada Post announced in February it would add a new security feature to its money orders in response to a growing number of money-order frauds both in Canada and the U.S. One scam came to light earlier this year when a suspicious Newfoundland woman called police after receiving three Canada Post money orders for $800 each as payment for a $500 electronic organizer she sold over the Internet to someone in France. As payment, the buyer sent her $2,400 worth of money orders, told her to keep $500 and return the rest. The money orders were fake. The post office’s new anti-fraud device will feature a heat-sensitive security mark that turns white when a finger is placed on it.

– MORTGAGE FRAUD: This form of fraud is rampant, according to people in the real estate industry, and totals about $50 million annually. While mostly a hidden form of fraud (and often never detected), the industry warns it is driving up mortgage insurance rates for everyone. Such fraud comes to light when a homeowner defaults on a mortgage and the lender discovers they’ve been hoodwinked not only about the real value of the house but about the amount of the downpayment and even the homeowner’s employment claims. One study carried out by the B.C. Financial Institutions Commission, an investigative arm of the province’s finance ministry, suggested that from 10 to 15 per cent of all B.C. mortgage loan applications contain so-called “material misrepresentations.”

– INSURANCE FRAUD: The Insurance Bureau of Canada last year awarded its first ever Scam-ademy Award to the perpetrators of an “epic” auto theft scam that stretched from Canada to the Middle East. These “audacious fraud artists,” the bureau said, were not only car thieves but identity thieves as well. They created a string of false identities and fake credit reports, and used them to lease more than 80 high-end cars. The cars were then shipped to buyers in countries throughout the Middle East. “After the cars had sailed away, the gang tried to report some of them stolen in an attempt to collect on the insurance as well,” the bureau reports. The trail of fake paperwork led to seven suspects. Five men are now facing charges, and arrest warrants have been issued for the other two.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Suzanne Beaubien
Sun

Unless you’re willing to disconnect your cable connection or wireless card and live entirely offline, it’s impossible to escape the fact that threats to your computer can sneak in any time you connect to the Internet.

According to the last Internet security threat report from security software giant Symantec, Canada rated second in the world in terms of malicious activity on the Internet.

Meanwhile, the report says, home computer users accounted for 95 per cent of all targeted attacks in the first six months of 2007.

The average computer user may not have the savvy to stop all spyware and phishing attacks or secure a wireless connection on their own. But new technology aims to help in the fight against data theft and online identity fraud.

— Yoggie sounds like a cute name for a puppy, but this miniature security hardware appliance is like an attack dog that guards your laptop from Internet threats when you’re using it in public places. The company touts the device for corporate computers on the go: while most company laptops are secure when tapped into the corporate network, they may become vulnerable to threats when used on their own. But just plug Yoggie’s Gatekeeper Pico Pro into your USB port and the portable hardware firewall hides the laptop’s IP address from outside attacks, while fending off spyware, phishing attacks and viruses. It even makes it safe to use public wireless hot spots. (Yoggie Gatekeeper Pico Pro, $199 US, available at www.yoggie.com.)

— For PC users, McAfee’s Internet Security Suite with Site Advisor promises to protect home computer users from identity theft by alerting users to phishing attacks. Phishers seek to steal valuable personal information by baiting computer users with phony e-mails or websites designed to look like they’re a reputable organization, often a bank, eBay, Paypal or a credit card company. But McAfee’s AntiPhishing browser plug-in will identify and block such websites and scams, alerting the user that they’ve landed on a known or suspected phishing website. McAfee’s Internet Security Suite with Site Advisor ($79.99 Cdn) is available for download at ca.mcafee.com.

— Meanwhile Symantec’s Norton Confidential aims to give Mac users similar peace of mind when making sensitive transactions online by protecting against dangerous phishing attempts. Like McAfee’s Site Advisor, Norton Confidential maintains a database of known and suspected phishing sites, and alerts users to the safety of the sites they’re visiting. Its Information Guard feature also purportedly prevents your personal information from theft by preventing protected data from exiting the computer. For example, you can block your credit card information, social insurance number and passwords from being transmitted without your permission. Norton Confidential ($49.95 US) is available for download at www.symantec.com.

— Not all identity thefts require a degree in computer programming. Data loss can also be the result of good, old-fashioned five-finger discounts, so it’s important to keep your computer under lock and key. But if thieves run off with your laptop while your back is turned, the free download LaptopLock can keep sensitive files safe and prevent identity theft on Windows computers. First, you must create an account at www.thelaptoplock.com and download the corresponding software. After that, if your computer is snatched, you can log in into your account and mark the laptop status as stolen. Then, when that machine connects to the Internet, LaptopLock can erase or encrypt sensitive files, track IP addresses used by the thief and even sound an alarm for sweet revenge. Download available for free at www.thelaptoplock.com.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Big bucks still to be made years after dot-com crash

Lena Sin
Province

He works two hours a day and makes as much as $10 million a year.

That’s why Markus Frind is already considered a dot-com legend at the ripe old age of 29.

Frind is the sole owner of Plentyof

Fish.com, one of the most popular online dating sites in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.

Running his matchmaking business from his 83-square-metre apartment in downtown Vancouver, Frind is a one-man show in a business many thought was impossible to do solo.

It’s little wonder, then, that the likes of Guy Kawasaki, a well-known American venture capitalist, author and Forbes columnist, has hailed Frind a personal “hero.”

But Frind is by no means the first British Columbian to become an Internet mogul.

Fellow Vancouverite Kevin Ham has an Internet portfolio of domain names worth an estimated $300 million, while Richmond blogger John Chow found online riches through his popular blog.

Then there’s Vancouver couple Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield, creators of photo-sharing site Flickr, which was sold to Yahoo in 2005 for a rumoured $40 million.

Frind is now making his splash in the online dating industry, taking on heavyweights such as Lavalife.com, which employs no less than five vice-presidents and a string of chief officers.

“The most remarkable thing to me is this one person is able to make up to $10 million a year all by himself. It’s unheard of,” says Joe Tracy, editor of the industry publication Online Dating Magazine.

Frind’s success is largely due to the fact that he’s figured out a way to run his site on autopilot.

While other companies hire reams of programmers and marketers, Frind has just one assistant he recently hired to respond to e-mails.

“Other free sites fail because they can’t control their costs. My costs are pretty much zero,” he says, sitting in his Coal Harbour apartment that’s decorated with Ikea art and mismatched couches.

Growing up on a farm in Hudson‘s Hope, 90 kilometres west of Fort St. John on the banks of the Peace River, Frind was always more interested in computers than cattle, says his mother, Erika.

After high school, Frind immediately left his “500-person town” to learn computer programming at the B.C. Institute of Technology in Burnaby.

He graduated in 1999 at the tail end of the dot-com bubble, a period marked by spectacular Internet business failures.

“I was jumping from job to job,” he says. “And every six months, the company would go under.”

Plenty of Fish was launched in 2003 as a pet project for Frind, who was trying to learn a new programming language called ASP.NET. He chose to build an online dating site for its dynamic platform.

From the outset, Plenty of Fish was offered as a free site, unlike most dating sites at the time.

Traffic grew fast, mostly through word of mouth. He decided to sign up with Google AdSense, which supplies web publishers with advertising, to see how far he could take Plenty of Fish.

The first cheque arrived in July 2003.

“I made $1,100 and I thought, if I made this four or five times bigger, I won’t have to work again,” says Frind.

Indeed, Frind doesn’t have to work again. He makes upwards of $5 million a year and is projected to take in $10 million this year, he says.

Revenue comes from banner ads, Google-supplied ads and “affiliate” marketing links that send users to other dating sites.

There are about 660,000 active users — 40,000 of them from B.C.

It ranks in the top three busiest dating sites in Canada, according to comScore Media. According to Hitwise, by some measures — time spent on the site, for example — it ranks No. 1 in the U.S. and U.K.

Its appeal? The site is far from slick — but it’s free and the search engine works better than others, Frind says.

“Everyone lies about what they want, or they don’t know what they want,” he says. “I look at who they’re messaging, not what they’re saying.”

Frind’s program monitors people’s behaviour and tailors search results accordingly. For example, if you’re messaging a lot of people who don’t post pictures of themselves, his program will pick up that quirk and return more results of people in that category.

He’s also a stickler for originality. The program automatically detects lazy users who write a single message, then cut-and-paste to send the message en masse to potential dates.

“People who swear too much get deleted,” Frind adds. “Unoriginal users? Delete.”

Frind, who’s never tried online dating himself and met his girlfriend at his last job, has his eyes set on moving into the Chinese and European markets one day.

He says he barely notices the cash that rolls in and is more interested in growing than making money.

“I’m driven,” he concedes. “It’s just fun winning. I feel like I’m playing a video game. There’s always another level.”

© The Vancouver Province 2008