A bill from Rep. David Valadao (R–Hanford) to target romance scams passed out of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Tuesday.
The Romance Scam Prevention Act was introduced by Valadao, Rep. Brittany Petterson (D–CO), Rep. Tom Suozzi (D–NY) and Rep. Craig Goldman (R–TX).
Driving the news: The Federal Trade Commission reported that victims of romance scams lost over $1.1 billion in 2023.
- Fraudsters have a wide target to conduct their romance scams, since over 60 million people used an online dating service in 2023.
- A romance scam is when someone uses a fake identity on online dating sites to manipulate people for financial gain.
The big picture: Currently, dating sites deactivate a user’s account if that user committed fraudulent activity.
- But people often take their conversations off of the dating sites and onto other platforms, meaning people may not know they are talking to someone who has been found to have committed fraud.
- The Romance Scam Prevention Act would require dating apps to issue fraud ban notifications to users who have interacted with someone who was removed from the service for fraudulent activity.
- Such notification requirements are already in place in Vermont, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New York.
What he’s saying: “Millions of Americans use online dating services to make connections, making them the perfect platform for romance scammers to target their victims,” Valadao said. “Alerting users that they have been in contact with someone who has been banned for fraud is a basic security feature that will save Americans billions, and I’m proud to lead this effort alongside my Congressional colleagues. I want to thank Chairman Brett Guthrie and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce for their attention to this critical issue.”
