Three online dating services will begin screening clients in wake of a lawsuit brought last year by a Match.com client raped by a repeat sex offender to whom she had been matched.

Mashable reported that the California attorney general's office had agreed to work with Match.com, eHarmony.com and Spark Networks to screen for sexual predators.

It cited a joint statement as noting the prevalence of online dating, and saying that the companies’ main objective is to keep users safe.

"Consumers should be able to use websites without the fear of being scammed or targeted," California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris reportedly said.

The companies also agreed to check subscribers against national sex registries, supply online safety tips, and provide a way to quickly report abuses, Fox News reported. Some of the companies already are using some of those practices.

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According to the LA Times, the practice of Internet matchmaking services carrying disclaimers warning clients that they bear no liability for physical, financial or other harm was always going to change after the Match.com verdict.

The Dallas-based online dating site, which operates in 24 countries and 15 languages, last year agreed to settle the lawsuit brought by a Hollywood screenwriter over her 2010 sexual assault by Alan Wurtzel, who had a string of previous convictions for sexual battery.

Legal experts told the LA Times that it was only a matter of time before courts forced the billion-dollar online dating operations to ensure protections for their members.

Last year, an estimated 40 million Americans used an online dating service and spent more than $1 billion on dating website memberships, Fox reported, citing the attorney general's office.

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