Warning to app developers from dating app founder

Leading consensual non-monogamy (CNM) app 3Fun, has been subject to an attempted extortion of trademark infringement, including the temporary removal of the app from the iOS AppStore. This unexpected disruption has had a major impact on 3Fun’s business as it loses new and current iOS users and risks losing its high ranking in the App Store.

The extortion scam was very sophisticated: 3Fun is a trademark of its parent company, Sugar Life Co., Limited. In late March, the scammers created www.sugarglife.site, a fake domain, to defraud 3Fun by contacting Apple and claiming trademark infringement. An email address was also created under the fake domain in the name of 3Fun’s lawyer on the trademark certificate. An email was sent from that account to 3Fun, claiming they can help fix the app for a significant fee. When 3Fun refused to negotiate, the impersonator attempted to scam the company for a six-figure payout of $500,000.

3Fun, the non-monogamy dating app, temporarily removed from the iOS app store due to attempted trademark infringement by scammers

The company is working hard to contact Apple to resolve this issue quickly.

“While this service outage is frustrating, we are working with the team at Apple to restore 3Fun in the App Store. By publicizing the impact of this trademark infringement scam on 3Fun, I want to raise awareness of the latest way scammers attack companies to defraud. Entrepreneurs need to be aware so they can better protect their businesses from these types of extortion scams,” said Max Ma, Founder and CEO of 3Fun.

3Fun was released on the App Store in 2016 and currently has over 10 million downloads, and more than 3 million users worldwide who trust 3Fun for their CNM relationship needs. The app is a popular destination for users to connect with like-minded CNM individuals to explore their sexuality.

This issue does not affect Android users and is available through the Google Play store. Current iOS users are also not affected.