Alarming number of Americans scammed out of life savings have one thing in common, prompting lawmaker response

EXCLUSIVE: As romance scams are connected the rise, a bipartisan radical of lawmakers is introducing caller authorities aimed astatine holding accountable those who question to defraud retirees and bargain their hard-earned savings.

U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., introduced the Romance Scam Prevention Act, which would necessitate dating apps and services to contented fraud prohibition notifications to users who person interacted with a idiosyncratic removed from the app.

The determination came arsenic Americans are much than ever connected acknowledgment to societal media and dating apps that let america to enactment successful interaction with aged friends each implicit the satellite and to make caller relationships online.

As Americans progressively spell online successful hunt of relationships, scammers are pursuing suit. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), successful 2022 astir 70,000 radical reported being victims of a romance scam.

ROMANCE SCAMS ON THE RISE AS AMERICANS LOOK TO DATING APPS FOR LOVE: 5 TIPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) arrives to a Senate Judiciary Committee concern gathering astatine the Dirksen Senate Office Building connected Feb. 13, 2025 successful Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., is seen successful the U.S. Capitol connected Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

People aged 40 to 69 are the astir apt to study losing wealth owed to a romance scam, and radical 70 and older reported the highest idiosyncratic median losses astatine $9,475, according to the FTC.

Blackburn said that the bipartisan authorities would enactment "critical safeguards" successful spot to support app users. The legislator highlighted that successful 2023, Tennesseans implicit the property of 60 mislaid $43 cardinal owed to scams targeting the elderly.

"Scammers are merciless successful their exploitation of elder citizens who articulation dating apps to found meaningful connections but alternatively extremity up losing their beingness savings to con artists who prey connected their vulnerabilities," she said.

READ THE BILL TEXT: MOBILE USERS CLICK HERE

The measure requires online dating work providers to notify members if they've communicated with idiosyncratic whose relationship has been banned for fraudulent activity. The notification indispensable see the banned member's illustration details and a informing that the banned subordinate mightiness be attempting fraud, specified arsenic requesting money.

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The measure is enforceable by the FTC and allows authorities attorneys wide to bring civilian actions connected behalf of affected residents. It besides ensures that nary authorities instrumentality tin interfere with the process of fraud prohibition notifications.

"This bipartisan, bicameral measure provides transparency, empowers users to marque informed decisions, and reinforces champion practices to forestall online scams," Valadao said. "I’m arrogant to assistance pb the effort to marque online dating safer and support Americans of each ages from fiscal fraud."

U.S. Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, astatine the nationalist swearing-in ceremonial for Assemblymember Alexandra Macedo, R-Tulare, astatine the Tulare City Council Chambers successful Tulare, California, connected Jan. 31, 2025.  (Juan Esparza Loera/The Fresno Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

One specified scam was precocious uncovered by Las Vegas authorities successful February. The Romance Scam Prevention Act would defender citizens from suspects similar 43-year-old Aurora Phelps.

"Phelps would conscionable older men connected dating websites oregon services, past conscionable them in-person. It was portion of her strategy to cause the older men to summation unauthorized entree to and bargain wealth from their fiscal accounts to personally payment herself and her household members," prosecutors said.

Photo of suspect Aurora Phelps, from tribunal papers successful the United States of America v. Aurora Phelps successful U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. (Department of Justice/U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.)

Phelps was charged with 21 counts, including 7 counts of ligament fraud; 3 counts of message fraud; six counts of slope fraud; 3 counts of individuality theft; 1 number of kidnapping; and 1 number of kidnapping resulting successful death, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada said successful a statement.

If convicted connected each counts, Phelps, who was taken into custody successful Mexico, could look a maximum of beingness successful prison.

Though she's lone charged successful 1 death, an indictment said that astatine slightest 2 men she met and scammed died.

Red flags successful a romance scam

In romance scams, a transgression uses a fake online individuality to summation a victim's affection and trust. The scammer past uses the illusion of a romanticist oregon adjacent narration to manipulate and/or bargain from the victim.

The emergence of romance scams led U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide applicable tips for radical to debar being taken vantage of. 

• Be suspicious of unsolicited telephone calls and substance messages. Don’t reply calls oregon texts from immoderate chartless numbers. Never springiness retired idiosyncratic accusation implicit the telephone oregon text.
• Limit what you stock online. Scammers tin usage details shared connected societal media and dating sites to amended recognize and people you to signifier a transportation and instrumentality vantage of what is going connected successful your life.
• Go dilatory and inquire questions. Creating a mendacious consciousness of urgency is simply a cardinal maneuver of societal engineering. Don’t fto the idiosyncratic unreserved you to marque a decision. Be wary of sending money, slope relationship information, idiosyncratic photos oregon different delicate idiosyncratic accusation to idiosyncratic you’ve ne'er met successful person.
• Keep it connected the platform. Many times, scammers volition propulsion to determination the speech disconnected the dating oregon societal platform. Generally, they petition to substance oregon email. This is to debar the detection controls successful dating website chats.
• Listen to your gut. If the idiosyncratic seems excessively bully to beryllium true, speech to idiosyncratic you spot astir it.
• Don’t nonstop wealth oregon cryptocurrency. Never nonstop wealth to anyone you person lone communicated with online oregon by phone. If you conscionable idiosyncratic connected a dating site, app, oregon societal media, and they privation to amusement you however to put successful crypto, oregon inquire you to nonstop them cryptocurrency, it is simply a fraud.

Elderly citizens are often targeted by scammers. (CyberGuy.com)

Resources

More accusation astir the department’s efforts to assistance older Americans is disposable astatine its Elder Justice Initiative webpage, elderjustice.gov. 

For much accusation astir the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. 

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Elder fraud complaints tin beryllium filed with the FTC at www.reportfraud.ftc.gov/ oregon astatine 877-FTC-HELP. The Justice Department provides a assortment of resources relating to elder fraud victimization done its Office for Victims of Crime, at www.ovc.gov.