S841-119

What This Bill Does

The Romance Scam Prevention Act creates a federal fraud-ban notification rule for online dating services. If a member has messaged someone whose account was terminated or suspended because of significant fraud risk, the service must notify the member, identify the banned profile, warn against sending money or financial information, provide anti-fraud best practices, and include customer-service contact information. The bill sets 24-hour, three-day, and law-enforcement-delay timing rules, gives providers limited liability protection for notices, treats violations as FTC Act unfair-or-deceptive-practice violations, allows state attorneys general to sue, and preempts conflicting state notice rules.

Who Benefits and How

Online dating users benefit because they would receive direct warnings when they communicated with a profile banned for suspected fraud. Romance-scam victims benefit if timely notices stop payments, money transfers, or disclosure of financial information. State attorneys general benefit from express authority to bring civil actions for violations affecting residents. The FTC benefits from a federal rule it can enforce through existing unfair-or-deceptive-practice powers.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Online dating service providers must build fraud-ban notification systems, meet timing rules, and include required warning content. Provider compliance teams must coordinate notices with law-enforcement delay requests and customer-service channels. Fraudulent dating profiles face faster exposure once platforms impose a fraud ban. States with different notification rules lose authority where the bill preempts conflicting state requirements.

Key Provisions

• Requires online dating services to notify members who exchanged messages with a banned member suspected of fraud.
• Provides required notice content, including the banned profile identifier, fraud warning, financial-safety warning, best practices, and customer-service contact.
• Establishes 24-hour, three-day, and law-enforcement-delay timing rules for fraud-ban notifications.
• Authorizes FTC enforcement, state attorney general civil actions, limited provider liability protection, and preemption of conflicting state notice laws.