Online Dating Apps Must Alert Users to Fraudsters within 24 Hours Under New Romance Scam Prevention Act

We’ve all heard the horror stories—or maybe you’ve experienced it yourself: you’re hitting it off with someone new on an app, only for them to suddenly disappear or, worse, start asking for 'emergency' cash. The Romance Scam Prevention Act aims to step into that gap by requiring online dating platforms to notify you if you’ve been chatting with an account that gets banned for fraud. Under this bill, if a provider kicks someone off for suspicious financial behavior, they have a 24-hour window to let you know that your recent match was flagged. This isn’t just a vague 'system update' alert; the notification must include the person’s username, a warning not to send money, and tips on how to spot a scammer before they get into your wallet.

The 24-Hour Safety Check

The core of this bill is about speed and transparency. According to Section 2, once a dating service determines there is a "significant risk" a member is trying to defraud others, they must trigger a notification to everyone who exchanged messages with that person. While the 24-hour rule is the standard, the bill allows for a 3-day window if there are complicated circumstances, or a longer delay if law enforcement is running an active investigation and doesn't want to tip off the suspect. For the average person, this means if that 'architect' you’ve been messaging for two days is actually a bot or a scammer, you’ll get a text or email warning you to cut ties before you’re pressured into sending a gift card or sharing your bank details.

Protection for the Platforms

To make sure dating apps actually follow through without fear of being sued, the bill includes a "Legal Protection" clause. This means a provider can’t be held liable by you—or by the person they banned—for sending out these fraud alerts in good faith. It’s a trade-off: the apps get a shield against defamation lawsuits from banned users, and in exchange, they are required to be more proactive about user safety. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general are tapped as the enforcers here, meaning if a platform ignores these rules, they could face the same penalties as any other company caught in an "unfair or deceptive" business practice.

A Uniform Standard for Your Inbox

Right now, how an app handles a banned user is mostly up to their own internal policy. This bill changes that by creating a national standard that preempts state laws, ensuring that whether you’re swiping in Seattle or Syracuse, the rules for fraud notification are the same. While the bill is clear about what needs to be in the alert—like a direct link to best practices for avoiding fraud—it does give providers some discretion in defining what a "significant risk" looks like. The goal is to move the burden of safety from the individual user to the platform’s security team, giving you a heads-up before a charming conversation turns into a financial nightmare. The requirements are set to kick in one year after the bill is officially signed into law.