U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Romance Scam Prevention Act (H.R. 2481). The law requires online dating services to notify users who had messaged an account later banned for fraud. The signing date, October 20, comes from the trade publication Global Dating Insights. The signature and date do not appear in the bill text, so the figure currently rests on a single source.
If a user received a message from a banned member, the service must send them a notice about the fraud ban. The notice must include the person's name or profile ID, the time of the last exchange, and a warning that the person may have used a fake identity or be trying to deceive. It must also include a separate line saying “do not send money or financial details,” a link to anti-fraud protection rules, and support contacts.
The timelines are as follows. The notice must be sent no later than 24 hours after the ban begins. If the service determines that circumstances require more time, it has up to 3 days. If police ask to delay the notice due to an investigation, the service may not send it before that delay ends. After the delay, up to another 3 days are allowed for sending. Delivery methods include email, SMS, or another channel if the user has agreed to it.
For dating operators and affiliate traffic buyers working in this vertical, the practical question is one: how will the recipients of notifications be determined, and will this extend to conversations moved to messengers? The verified part of the law does not answer this. It is worth waiting for the law to take effect and for regulator clarifications.
