U.S. Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), both members of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today introduced the bipartisan, bicameral AI Fraud Accountability Act to protect Americans from AI scams and hold fraudsters accountable. This bill would create a new offense under the Communications Act to prohibit falsely posing as a real or imaginary individual through a highly realistic digital impersonation with the intent to defraud a person of money or other things of value. ... The AI Fraud Accountability Act would also: Direct the FTC to identify foreign countries most associated with digital impersonation fraud and to pursue international cooperation agreements to bolster enforcement against overseas actors. Establish a working group, led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and including the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, law enforcement, affected industry sectors, and technical experts, to develop best practices and recommendations for fighting digital impersonation fraud.
Introduce and advance bipartisan legislation to create criminal and civil penalties for highly realistic digital impersonation using AI with intent to defraud, and to direct the FTC and a new interagency working group to combat digital impersonation fraud.
Occurrences
Sheehy, Blunt Rochester Introduce AI Fraud Accountability Act ... U.S. SENATE – Senator Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) today introduced the bipartisan, bicameral AI Fraud Accountability Act with Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) to protect Americans from AI scams and hold fraudsters accountable. ... The AI Fraud Accountability Act would modernize federal law to ensure consumers are protected from emerging digital impersonation fraud while safeguarding legitimate speech and innovation. ... This bill would create a new offense under the Communications Act to prohibit falsely posing as a real or imaginary individual through a highly realistic digital impersonation with intent to defraud a person of money or other things of value. ... This bill would also: Direct the FTC to identify foreign countries most associated with digital impersonation fraud and to pursue international cooperation agreements to bolster enforcement against overseas actors. Establish a working group, led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and including the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, law enforcement, affected industry sectors, and technical experts, to develop best practices and recommendations for fighting digital impersonation fraud.
Evidence
On March 4, 2026, Senators Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) introduced the bipartisan AI Fraud Accountability Act to protect Americans from AI scams and hold fraudsters accountable. The bill creates a new offense under the Communications Act to prohibit falsely posing as a real or imaginary individual through a highly realistic digital impersonation with intent to defraud. It also directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to identify foreign countries most associated with digital impersonation fraud and to pursue international cooperation agreements to bolster enforcement against overseas actors. Additionally, the bill establishes a working group, led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and including the Department of Justice, FTC, law enforcement, affected industry sectors, and technical experts, to develop best practices and recommendations for fighting digital impersonation fraud.
On March 4, 2026, Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) introduced the bipartisan AI Fraud Accountability Act to protect Americans from AI scams and hold fraudsters accountable. The bill creates a new offense under the Communications Act to prohibit falsely posing as a real or imaginary individual through a highly realistic digital impersonation with intent to defraud. It also directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to identify foreign countries most associated with digital impersonation fraud and to pursue international cooperation agreements to bolster enforcement against overseas actors. Additionally, the bill establishes a working group, led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and including the Department of Justice, FTC, law enforcement, affected industry sectors, and technical experts, to develop best practices and recommendations for fighting digital impersonation fraud.
Assessments
Lisa Blunt Rochester introduced bipartisan legislation as promised, targeting criminal and civil penalties for AI-driven digital impersonation fraud and establishing an interagency working group, as well as directing the FTC to take specific anti-fraud actions. However, there is no evidence the legislation advanced beyond introduction or became law.