HR 2481: Romance Scam Prevention Act

HR 2481 in plain English: This bill requires online dating apps and websites to notify users when they have communicated with an account that has been banned for fraud. The notification must include specific details about the banned user, warnings about false identities, and tips for avoiding scams. The Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general would enforce these requirements.

Stated purpose

This bill requires online dating services to notify users when someone they have messaged has been banned for fraud, and to provide those users with warnings and resources to avoid being scammed.

Key points

• Requires dating apps and websites to alert users when they have messaged a fraud-banned account.
• Notifications must identify the banned user and warn that they may have used a false identity.
• Alerts must advise users not to send cash or personal financial information to other users.
• Notifications must include online fraud prevention information and provider customer service contact details.
• Enforcement authority is granted to the FTC and state attorneys general.

Arguments supporters make

• Romance scams cause serious financial and emotional harm, and timely warnings give potential victims a chance to protect themselves before sending money or personal information.
• Dating platforms already know when they ban a user for fraud, so requiring them to share that information with affected users is a low-cost step that could prevent real losses.
• Having both the FTC and state attorneys general able to enforce the law creates stronger accountability and makes it more likely that platforms will actually follow through.

Arguments opponents make

• The bill does not require platforms to actively detect or prevent scammers in the first place — it only requires notification after a ban, which may come too late for many victims.
• Platforms may delay banning fraudulent accounts, exploit the 3-day extension window, or find other ways to technically comply while providing little real protection to users.
• New compliance requirements could burden smaller dating services disproportionately, while sophisticated scammers may simply create new accounts quickly enough to avoid triggering notifications.

Tradeoffs

The bill adds consumer protections at the cost of new compliance obligations for dating platforms, and relies on platforms to ban bad actors promptly — meaning the strength of the protection depends heavily on how quickly and thoroughly platforms enforce their own fraud bans.

Current status in Congress: Passed House.

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