Dating agency uses credit card details without authorisation

A person's credit card has been used by a dating agency without permission.

A dating agency has been found to have used a person's credit card without having the proper authorisation, the Southport Magistrates Court was told.

The Hearts United International Consulting Services was fined $20,000 which included charges for other infringements.

Fair Trading Minister Peter Lawlor said the agency broke promises it would provide one introduction to a possible new friend every week for six months, as only four were given across the period which left the consumer feeling "ripped off".

The complainant paid $1,650 in Aussie credit for a membership at the agency.

Mr Lawlor said: "The introduction agent made its first mistake by taking money off of the person's credit card without getting their proper authorisation in writing."

People with credit cards in the Darwin area could have been affected last month by men skimming ATMs after the Northern Territory Police Major Fraud Unit warned they were on the hunt for two males in the area believed to be attached to groups who had been committing the crime.

By Nate Sawyer