Romance Scam Prevention Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. VALADAO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to urge support for my bill, the Romance Scam Prevention Act. Every year, millions of Americans from all ages and backgrounds use dating apps and websites to make connections.

For many, online dating has made it easier to build relationships. Unfortunately, there are countless stories of criminals using these sites for fraudulent activity.

While it is sadly common to see users lie about things like their age and occupation, romance scammers use fake profiles to develop connections and emotionally or financially exploit unsuspecting users. According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans lost over $1.1 billion in 2023 alone, with senior citizens being the age group most at risk.

There have been countless stories of people being conned out of their entire life savings, all because they believed they had found love online. People who meet online often take their conversations to other communication platforms and might not know that they are talking to someone who has been removed from the original dating app.

This bill requires dating platforms to issue fraud ban notifications to users who have interacted with an account who has been removed for fraudulent activity.

As criminals are becoming more sophisticated when it comes to exploiting victims online, it is time to put safeguards in place to protect users from financial fraud.

I thank Chairman Guthrie and his staff at the Committee on Energy and Commerce for their work on this important bill, as well as my co-leads, Representatives Brittany Pettersen, Tom Suozzi, and Craig Goldman.

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