Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined a bipartisan coalition of 41 attorneys general in sending a letter to Meta Platforms, Inc. to address the rising number of Facebook and Instagram account takeovers by scammers. The coalition criticizes Meta's inadequate security measures and calls for improved protections including multi-factor authentication, increased staffing for response, and stronger enforcement against scammers. The letter urges Meta to take immediate action to safeguard user accounts from hijacking and fraud.
In-house legal teams should review data processing agreements, terms of service, and vendor contracts with security obligations. Focus on clauses governing data security standards, user authentication methods, breach notification timelines, account recovery processes, and fraud monitoring requirements. Changes may be needed to mandate multi-factor authentication, specify minimum security controls for account protection, require enhanced scam detection and response protocols, and establish clear accountability and reporting for account takeover incidents.
Entity
Meta Platforms, Inc.
Also known as: Meta
Industry
Social MediaOfficial Press Release
https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2024-press-releases/ag-tong-joins-bipartisan-coalition-calling-on-meta-to-protect-accounts-from-scammers
multistate letter on account takeovers ltrhd.pdf?rev=a69344f
https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/ag/press_releases/2024/multistate-letter-on-account-takeovers_ltrhd.pdf?rev=a69344f4e07a471ab64fa4fffff52098&hash=79F8D695193B962BD0F7A17E66929148
Connecticut Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://portal.ct.gov/AG/Privacy/Privacy-Resources
"Meta Platforms, Inc."
"Account takeovers are when bad actors break into a user’s account and change passwords, effectively hijacking the account and blocking out the rightful owner."
"03/06/2024"
"Connecticut Attorney General William Tong"
"sending a letter to Meta Platforms, Inc."
"bipartisan coalition of 41 attorneys general"
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and the Bureau of Securities issued a public warning to state residents about fraudulent investment schemes proliferating on Meta-owned platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The alert details common scam tactics such as pump-and-dump schemes, confidence scams, and fraudulent cryptocurrency offerings, and provides tips for residents to avoid victimization. No enforcement action against any entity was announced in this release.
$1.4B
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a record-setting $1.4 billion settlement with Meta for unlawfully capturing and using the biometric data of millions of Texans, marking one of the largest privacy settlements in U.S. history.
Attorney General William Tong led a bipartisan coalition of 42 attorneys general in urging Meta Platforms to protect users from fraudulent investment ads on Facebook that facilitate pump-and-dump schemes, causing significant financial losses. The coalition calls for enhanced ad review processes, including human review for investment ads, and suggests ceasing investment ads if scams cannot be curbed.
New Jersey, leading a coalition of 41 other attorneys general, sued Meta for knowingly designing addictive Instagram and Facebook features targeting children and teens while falsely claiming the platforms were safe. The lawsuit alleges Meta collected personal data from users under 13 without parental consent, violating the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and state consumer protection laws like the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
New Jersey is co-leading a nationwide investigation into whether Instagram and its parent company Meta Platforms, Inc. are violating state consumer protection laws by employing techniques that induce children, teenagers, and young adults to use the platform in potentially harmful ways. The bipartisan coalition of attorneys general is examining the potential mental and physical health harms resulting from extended engagement, including depression, anxiety, and body image issues.
On May 11, 2026, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong led a bipartisan coalition of 21 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the agency to abandon draft guidance that would ease approvals for flavored e-cigarette products. The coalition argues the guidance ignores evidence that flavored e-cigarettes disproportionately drive youth addiction and that FDA has failed to enforce existing authorization requirements for e-cigarette products. The letter references past tobacco and e-cigarette enforcement actions, including the 1998 tobacco master settlement agreement and the 2022 $438.5 million settlement with JUUL Labs.