Deceased billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein appeared to have multiple accounts on the dating site Match.com in 2012, years after being convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor, files released by the Department of Justice suggest.

In the Epstein files, viewed by Mashable, there are numerous emails from Match.com dated in 2012, linking Epstein's Gmail and Yahoo addresses to two profiles on the site: "jeeproject" and "sultan175." Match seemingly emailed the former username "congratulations" for signing up, an alert to resubmit the profile because part of the text was "unintelligible or repetitious," and offers for a free 72 hours on the app. One account received a "Happy birthday" from Match on the same date as Epstein's 60th birthday.

Xbox Live, meanwhile, permanently banned Epstein in 2013 for being a registered sex offender.

Additionally, the files contain emails about matches the accounts made, including women in their early 20s, as well as emails of members Match "selected for" the user, including a 20-year-old.

A couple of credit card statements in the Epstein files include Match.com as a payee, from 2007 (prior to his conviction) and again in 2012 (Epstein was convicted in 2008). Other files also suggest that he was on other dating apps (owned by Match and otherwise), and that he may have invested in Match Group, the parent company of popular dating apps Tinder and Hinge.

"I'm not at all surprised based on my previous experiences representing clients," lawyer Carrie Goldberg told Mashable. "I'm not at all surprised that a convicted sex predator was using Match Group products at all." Goldberg is representing plaintiffs suing Match Group after a serial rapist, Stephen Matthews, remained on Tinder and Hinge after multiple women reported him.

On whether Match Group had a legal duty to run background checks, Goldberg said, "Match Group has a legal duty to not release unsafe products into the stream of commerce…They're not allowed to increase the risk of harm to other users. They themselves have voluntarily committed to doing background checks."

Back in 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor. He served less than 13 months and registered as a sex offender. Then, in 2019, Epstein was charged with sex trafficking of minors and later died in his cell. The Department of Justice has released more than 3.5 million files related to his crimes since Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law on Nov. 19, 2025.

Match's background check rules, then and now

In Match.com's Terms of Agreement from 2012, it states in bolded font and all caps: "You are solely responsible for your interactions with other members. You understand that Match.com currently does not conduct criminal background checks on its members. Match.com also does not inquire into the backgrounds of all of its members or attempt to verify the statements of its members. Match.com makes no representations or warranties as to the conduct of members or their compatibility with any current or future members."

It also states, however, that "Match.com reserves the right to conduct any criminal background check or other screenings (such as sex offender register searches), at any time and using available public records." In 2011, Match announced that it would begin screening users against the national sex offender registry following a lawsuit from a woman who alleged she was assaulted by someone she met on the site.

Match's current terms are similar to those in 2012, as are those of Match Group brands Tinder and Hinge.

"The activity referenced dates back more than a decade, during a time when safety tools and registry checks were far more limited than they are today."
– A Match spokesperson to Mashable.

A Match spokesperson told Mashable, "The activity referenced dates back more than a decade, during a time when safety tools and registry checks were far more limited than they are today. Since then, the tools available and Match Group’s own Trust and Safety practices have been significantly strengthened through improvements in technology and our continued investment in safety." Match didn't respond to Mashable's question about the "members [it] selected for you" emails.

Last year, Tinder began requiring all new U.S. users to scan their faces when they sign up. However, the company states this is intended to stop scammers and spammers. It's unclear if Tinder is using this technology to reference a sex offender registry database. (Hinge will soon begin testing the same feature.)

As first reported by the Dallas Morning News, there are emails in the Epstein files from OkCupid as well, dating back to 2011, the year Match acquired it. There are also numerous emails to Epstein from the Jewish dating site JDate, which is owned by Spark Networks.

A spokesperson from JDate told Mashable that as a matter of policy, the company doesn't comment on or disclose information about individual user accounts. They did review Mashable's inquiry internally and, "because the materials relates to activity from around 2013 and, in light of our data-retention practices, we are not able to determine whether any related JDate account ever existed or to verify the authenticity or completeness of the documents referenced."

Epstein's potential investments

Within the Epstein files, there are also stock portfolio statements from Deutsche Bank from 2015 and 2016 that identify the portfolio as holding Match stock; however, it's not clear to whom those statements belonged.

There is also an email exchange from 2018 between Epstein and his stock trader, Alpha Group Capital's Paul Barrett, where Barrett suggested investing in conglomerate IAC, which owned Match Group at the time. (IAC and Match Group separated in 2020.) IAC currently owns many media brands, including The Daily Beast.

"Buy InterActive Corp (IAC) on the back of continued success of Match.com and Tinder," Barrett wrote in a 2018 email, along with information about Tinder's growth. Epstein appears to have replied, "OK," to Barrett's suggestion.

Several files mention IAC chairman and senior executive Barry Diller, including a text exchange with former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, when Epstein alleges that Diller has been "on the island." Little St. James, also known as "Epstein Island," is a private island once owned by Epstein, and that's where sex crimes are alleged to have occurred.

Diller, who co-founded the Fox Broadcasting Company with Rupert Murdoch, has been in the news in recent weeks after reportedly expressing interest in buying CNN. He's also been spotlighted by Page Six for his Epstein connection, telling the publication, "I am probably the only one who went to the island to see the architecture rather than the inhabitants."

"As for the stock, we have no idea. This was never discussed."
– An IAC spokesperson to Mashable.

"The relationship was distant," an IAC spokesperson told Mashable about Diller and Epstein. "As for the stock, we have no idea. This was never discussed." When asked to clarify who discussed this, the spokesperson responded, "We have no idea and are not aware of any discussions related to the purchase of IAC stock."

Match Group didn't respond to Mashable's inquiry about whether Epstein owned Match stock.

Earlier this month, Mashable dove into tech titans who appear in the Epstein files, including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.