WASHINGTON – Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced H.R. 6125, the Online Dating Safety Act, out of an Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee Markup. The Online Dating Safety Act is a bipartisan bill introduced by Reps. David G. Valadao (CA-22) and Brittany Pettersen (CO-07). The bill would require dating apps and services to issue fraud ban notifications to users who have interacted with a person removed from the app.

According to the FTC Protecting Older Consumers Report, romance scams are riskiest to people in the 60-69 and 70-79 age groups. The highest aggregate dollar losses reported in 2021 by older adults were in the romance scam category. Reported losses to romance scams among older Americans have increased significantly in recent years – losses increased from $139 million in 2020 to $213 million in 2021.

“Unfortunately, our seniors are often the ones who fall victim to romance scams,” said Congressman Valadao. “The countless stories of fraud cases that started on these dating platforms are devastating for the livelihoods of many older Americans. While we can’t stop all criminals, this bill is an important step to fill a communication gap and help people make more informed decisions. Thank you to my colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee for advancing this bipartisan, commonsense legislation.”

Background

Over 55 million Americans reported using an online dating service in 2022. As Americans continue to go online to find meaningful relationships, scammers are following suit. The Federal Trade Commission reported that romance scams resulted in victims losing $1.3 billion in 2022 alone. When an online dating service provider becomes aware of a user committing fraudulent activity, such as illegally obtaining money, the online dating service provider immediately deactivates the fraudulent user's account. However, individuals who meet online often take their conversations to other communication platforms, so even when a fraudulent account is removed, an individual might not know they are still communicating with someone who has been removed from the dating platform. The Online Dating Safety Act seeks to fill this communication gap by requiring these platforms to send a fraud ban notification to anyone who has communicated with someone with a fraudulent account.