Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and a bipartisan coalition of 50 attorneys general submitted comments to the FCC urging stronger Know Your Customer (KYC) rules to prevent scammers from using the U.S. communications network for illegal robocalls. The coalition recommends requiring providers to understand customers' business practices, holding all originating providers to KYC standards, and collecting additional information on high-risk customers. This effort is part of Phase 2 of Operation Robocall Roundup.
In-house legal teams should review vendor agreements with voice service providers, especially originating providers, to ensure they include robust Know Your Customer (KYC) obligations. Key clauses to examine: provider's duty to verify customer identity and business legitimacy, right to suspend or terminate services for suspected illegal robocall activity, compliance with FCC rules (including STIR/SHAKEN), and indemnification for violations of the TCPA and state telemarketing laws. Additionally, contracts with intermediate providers should require flow-down of KYC standards to all downstream customers.
Entity
Coalition of 50 Attorneys General
Industry
TelecommunicationsOfficial Press Release
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2026/07/28_Know-Your-Customer.asp
Know Your Customer Comments
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2026/docs/Know-Your-Customer_Comments.pdf
Minnesota Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/consumer/
"Attorney General Ellison and a bipartisan coalition of 50 attorneys general"
"pushing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to strengthen its “Know Your Customer” (KYC) rules to help prevent scammers from using the U.S. communications network to make illegal robocalls"
"Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)"
"Joining Attorney General Ellison in the letter are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming."
"https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2026/docs/Know-Your-Customer_Comments.pdf"
$75.5M
Minnesota AG Keith Ellison and a bipartisan coalition of 41 state attorneys general reached a settlement with subprime auto lender Credit Acceptance Corporation requiring it to pay the states $75.5 million and forgive more than $630 million in consumer debt nationwide. The settlement resolves allegations that the company financed auto loans it knew or should have known consumers could not afford, and financed the sale of expensive add-on products that consumers did not know they were purchasing. The company must also fundamentally reform its lending practices, including risk disclosures, loan balance waivers for high-risk defaults, and enhanced consent and cancellation protections for add-on products.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison joined a bipartisan coalition of 16 attorneys general in a letter to U.S. Senate Banking Committee leaders opposing the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, warning it would strip states of their ability to combat cryptocurrency scams and fraud. The letter cites over $10 million in crypto scam losses by Minnesotans in 18 months and urges Congress to preserve state registration regimes and enforcement authority. No company was charged and no penalty was imposed; this is legislative advocacy rather than an enforcement action.
Minnesota Attorney General Ellison reached a settlement with Minnesota Valley Cooperative Light and Power Association resolving allegations of deceptive and unfair practices, including disconnecting a customer's electricity despite the customer's need for life-sustaining medical equipment and failing to properly notify customers of consumer protections or offer appropriate payment plans. Under the consent judgment, the cooperative must provide separate disconnection notices, offer written payment plans, maintain records for AG oversight, and forgive amounts owed by the affected consumer.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit in Hennepin County against C4D, LLC, its owners Travis Benoit and Steven Legatt, and related entity Five Points Properties, LLC, alleging 18 counts of violating the Minnesota Human Rights Act, federal lending laws, and state consumer-fraud and contract-for-deed laws. The complaint alleges the defendants sold homes through predatory contracts for deed with inflated prices, hidden finance charges, and large annual balloon payments that leave buyers immediately underwater and forfeit all equity upon default, while targeting Somali-American Muslims on the basis of religion and national origin — a form of 'reverse redlining.' The AG seeks an injunction, civil penalties, and cancellation or reformation of existing contracts; no penalty amounts have been determined.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced the first round of restitution, issuing 8 refund checks totaling $38,634 to consumers harmed by Omega Dental Care, a defunct Eden Prairie dental clinic owned and operated by Anne Soberay. The refunds, paid from the state's Consumer Protection Restitution Account (CPRA), compensate consumers who paid out of pocket for dental services that were never provided. The refunds follow an earlier settlement between the AG's office and Omega Dental Care and Soberay. Note: this is a consumer protection (non-delivery of services) action, not a privacy enforcement action; no privacy violation types from the taxonomy apply.
$100K
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that used car dealer Midwest Car Search and its owner Scott Spiczka agreed to reform their business practices and pay $100,000 to resolve allegations that they violated Minnesota's Used Car Law and other consumer-protection laws through five deceptive practices, including fake 'certified' claims, illegally added vehicle service contracts, denied warranties, missing Buyer's Guide disclosures, and operating under an unregistered trade name that exploited Spanish speakers. The settlement resolves the AG's April 23, 2024 lawsuit and makes permanent a prior court order requiring the dealer to cease the deceptive conduct. Note: this is a consumer-protection enforcement action, not a privacy matter, so violation-type mapping to the privacy taxonomy is approximate.