New York Attorney General Letitia James issued guidance to New Yorkers donating to Venezuela earthquake relief, warning about fraudulent charities and scams. The guidance provides tips on verifying charities, avoiding phishing, and reporting suspicious organizations.
This is a consumer guidance, not an enforcement action against a specific entity. In-house legal teams should review their vendor agreements with fundraising platforms and payment processors to ensure compliance with charity registration and anti-fraud requirements. Clauses related to data security, phishing prevention, and reporting of suspicious activities should be strengthened.
Entity
New York Attorney General's Office
Industry
Other"La Fiscal General de Nueva York, Letitia James"
"La Fiscal General James advierte a los neoyorquinos que tengan cuidado con las organizaciones benéficas fraudulentas que podrían aprovecharse, así como con personas malintencionadas que se hacen pasar por representantes de dichas organizaciones."
New York Attorney General Letitia James submitted testimony to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, calling for stronger regulations on cryptocurrency platforms to protect consumers and investors from scams. The testimony details the flood of cryptocurrency scams costing Americans billions annually and criticizes the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act for undermining state enforcement efforts.
$824K
New York Attorney General Letitia James secured a settlement with 425 Marcy, LLC and its principal Ezra Unger over the unlawful pre-sale of condominium units at 427 Marcy Avenue in Williamsburg before the required Martin Act offering plan was accepted for filing, and the misuse of $6.715 million in buyer down payments that were never placed in escrow. Unger agreed to repay residential buyers their down payments with interest or provide purchase credits, pay up to $824,000 in penalties, and is barred from selling securities in New York for six years. Note: this is a real estate offering-plan/escrow enforcement action rather than a data privacy matter; 'notice_failure' is the closest available taxonomy mapping (selling without the required offering plan disclosures).
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a consumer alert (not an enforcement action) warning New Yorkers about scammers exploiting confusion from recent federal changes to student loan repayment programs, including the elimination of the SAVE plan and phase-out of income-driven repayment plans. The alert describes common scam tactics — upfront fees, false guarantees of loan forgiveness, manufactured urgency, demands for powers of attorney, and requests for federal student aid (FSA) credentials — and urges consumers to report scams to the OAG. No company was named, no violation was alleged against a specific entity, and no penalty was imposed.
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a consumer alert warning borrowers about scammers exploiting recent federal changes to student loan repayment programs, including the elimination of the SAVE plan and phase-out of income-based plans. The alert provides tips for borrowers, including refusing upfront fees, never granting powers of attorney to unknown parties, and never sharing Federal Student Aid login credentials. No specific company was named and no penalties or remedies were imposed; this is an advisory alert, not an enforcement action.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, joined by 21 other states and the FTC, sued Amazon for secretly overcharging its advertising customers more than $20 billion by submitting fake second-place bids to inflate ad auction prices since 2018. More than 1.2 million advertisers, including hundreds of thousands of small businesses, were allegedly overcharged. The coalition seeks a court order stopping the scheme plus penalties, restitution, and damages.
$17.1B
Attorney General James and a bipartisan coalition of 50 other attorneys general secured a landmark settlement with Meta Platforms, Inc. (Meta) worth up to $17.1 billion to address the company's harmful and addictive features targeting minors on Facebook and Instagram. The settlement requires Meta to implement significant changes, including age verification, time limits for minors, restrictions on notifications, and options to opt out of algorithmic feeds, along with monetary payments to states for mental health and education programs.