On a daily basis multiple social media romance scam reports emerge, raising a threat to out lives. However, the recent development gives a ray of hope. A Congressman from U.S. is crafting legislation aiming at removing fake accounts from online social media platforms; after he says he was the victim of romance scams initiated on Facebook.
Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois on Wednesday sent a letter to Facebook Chairman Mark Zuckerberg asking for an update on Facebook’s stated attempts to ensure the safety and security of it’s users.
In his letter, Kinzinger wrote that he’s deeply concerned about romance scams initiated on Facebook; specifically those impersonating military personal, gaining the trust of unsuspecting users and convincing them to send money.
As claimed by reports, Kinzinger told the New York Times of a specific incident in 2015 when a woman from India traveled to Rockford, Illinois to meet Kinzinger saying she developed a relationship with Kinzigner on Facebook.
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“She waited around in that bus station for two weeks for me to show up, and I didn’t,” Kinzinger said. “She’s a poor lady, too. It took all her money to fly from India to me.”
“Every day, there are countless by malicious actors to use your platform to scam others,” Kinzinger said, adding that “There needs to be accountability for this issue that can, quite frankly, destroy lives.”
The Illinois Republican requested information from Zuckerburg on Facebook’s attempts to cut down fake accounts from its platforms.
A Facebook spokeswoman said the company was reviewing Kinzinger’s letter and looked forward to answering his questions. Facebook has previously said it used software and human reviewers to remove impostor accounts when it found them, and that it worked with law enforcement authorities to prosecute scammers.
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