# Romance Scam Prevention Act: What You Need to Know

If you use dating apps or websites, this bill requires those companies to warn you if you've been messaging someone who got banned for suspected fraud. Here's what that means in practice: when a dating service bans someone because they think that person was trying to scam money out of other users, the company has to notify anyone who recently messaged with that banned person. You'd get an alert—through email, text, or another method you've agreed to—telling you that the person you were talking to may have been using a fake identity or trying to defraud members. The notification will include their username, when you last messaged them, and tips on how to protect yourself, like never sending cash or sharing financial information with someone you met online.

The timing matters here. Dating companies have 24 hours to send you this warning after they ban someone, though they can wait up to three days if they think the situation requires it. If law enforcement is investigating the scammer and asks the dating company to hold off on the notification, they can delay it, but they still have to tell you within three days after the investigation delay ends. This gives you a heads-up relatively quickly so you know to be cautious if you were already chatting with a scammer.

The bill protects dating companies from getting sued just for following these notification rules, which encourages them to actually warn people. The Federal Trade Commission will enforce this law, treating violations as unfair or deceptive business practices, and state attorneys general can also bring cases if companies ignore the requirement. All dating services across the country will follow the same rules—states can't create their own different notification requirements. The law takes effect one year after it's signed, giving dating companies time to set up their notification systems.

Romance Scam Prevention Act

Valadao, David G.

Romance Scam Prevention ActThis bill requires online dating service providers (i.e., mobile applications or websites) to provide users with&nbsp;a fraud ban notification if the user has established an account with the service and received a message through the service from a banned user of the service.The fraud ban notification must include (1) the username or other profile identifier of the banned user and the most recent time when the user who is receiving the notification sent or received a message through the service&nbsp;to or from the banned user, (2) a statement that the banned user may have been using a false identity or&nbsp;attempting to defraud other users, (3) a statement that the user should not send cash (or another form of currency) or personal financial information to another user, (4) information about avoiding online fraud (e.g., a link to another website or a disclosure) and (5) contact information for the provider's customer service department.The bill provides for enforcement of these requirements by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general.&nbsp;&nbsp;