WASHINGTON — A person meets someone online, grows close over weeks or months, and then the messages turn to money. A sudden emergency. A blocked account. A request that cannot wait. By the time the truth emerges, the account is gone — and so is the money.
That pattern is at the center of a new federal law signed by President Donald Trump. The Romance Scam Prevention Act requires online dating services to warn users when an account they interacted with is later removed for suspected fraud. The goal is simple: stop the next victim before the scam spreads.
The measure was signed into law on 20 October 2026, after passing the House and Senate with broad bipartisan support. It now gives the Federal Trade Commission a clear enforcement role over how dating platforms handle fraud-related account bans and user notifications.
Under the law, covered dating services must notify a user if the person they exchanged messages with is banned for suspected fraud. The notification must be sent within 24 hours of the ban and must explain that the other account was removed for suspected fraud. The law does not require the service to reveal its internal detection methods or private investigative details.
The bill was led in the House by Representative David Valadao, a California Republican, and in the Senate by Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, and Senator John Hickenlooper, a Colorado Democrat. Supporters say the law closes a gap that allowed scammers to move from victim to victim without warning.
Romance scams are among the most costly forms of online fraud in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission has reported that reported losses reached about $1.5 billion in 2025, with older adults and people seeking long-term relationships among the most affected groups. Victims often report shame, grief for a relationship that never existed, and reluctance to tell family — factors that can delay reporting and help scammers continue.
Supporters argue that a warning can break that cycle. If a user learns that an account was banned for suspected fraud, they can stop sending money, preserve evidence, and report the interaction to the platform and to law enforcement. The law’s supporters also say the 24-hour deadline is important because scammers often try to move victims to other platforms or payment apps quickly.
The law applies to online dating services that operate in the United States and meet the law’s coverage thresholds. It requires the notification to be clear and direct, rather than buried in general safety advice. Companies that fail to comply could face enforcement action by the Federal Trade Commission.
The law does not take effect immediately for all providers. It includes a delayed effective date in 2027, giving dating services time to update their systems, notification templates, and fraud-review procedures. Details such as how companies define an account that counts as suspected fraud, how they treat delays, and how they handle providers that send late, vague, or incomplete notices — will be answered through implementation and FTC guidance.
For users, the practical advice remains unchanged: be cautious about requests for money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or help moving funds from someone met online. A warning from a dating service should be treated as a serious red flag, even if the other person has already offered a plausible explanation.
The law also raises a broader question for online platforms: when a company knows an account was likely fraudulent, does it have a duty to warn the people who interacted with it? The Romance Scam Prevention Act answers that question for dating services, and its supporters hope it becomes a model for other online services where fraud spreads through private messages.
Sources: Read more from ICIJ [LINK: https://www.icij.org/], U.S. Congressman David Valadao [LINK: https://valadao.house.gov/] and Reason [LINK: https://reason.com/].