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.
In-house legal teams should review vendor agreements with cryptocurrency platforms and intermediaries to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, as well as cybersecurity protocols. Clauses related to fraud prevention, platform liability for scams, and data tracing (e.g., prohibition on untraceable transactions) may need updating to align with the regulatory framework urged by the NY AG. Additionally, contracts should include provisions for transparency and reporting obligations to protect consumers and investors.
Entity
New York Attorney General's Office
Industry
Financial ServicesOfficial Press Release
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-urges-congress-strengthen-oversight-cryptocurrency
cryptocurrency scams congressional testimony 2026 0
https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/letters/cryptocurrency-scams-congressional-testimony-2026_0.pdf
New York Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://ag.ny.gov/press-releases
"New York Attorney General Letitia James"
"cryptocurrency scams costing Americans billions of dollars every year"
"Digital Asset Market Clarity Act"
"Electronic Funds Transfer Act"
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.
$352K
New York Attorney General Letitia James settled with Brooklyn High Rise LLC for illegally denying housing to prospective tenants based on housing court records, a practice known as tenant blacklisting. The company also charged non-refundable 'good faith' deposits. Brooklyn High Rise will pay $352,250 in penalties and restitution and must end its unlawful tenant screening practices.
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued an industry alert urging workers with knowledge of unsafe or illegal conduct in AI development to file confidential complaints through the OAG's secure whistleblower portal. The alert cites the OAG's monitoring of cybersecurity, economic, and other safety risks from emerging AI, and highlights the RAISE Act (effective January 1, 2027), which will require large AI developers to publicly disclose safety measures and report security incidents, as well as the SHIELD Act's data security requirements. No company was named, charged, or penalized; the alert signals impending OAG enforcement authority over AI developers.
$700.0M
New York Attorney General Letitia James, leading a bipartisan coalition of 39 other states, the District of Columbia, and Hawaii's Office of Consumer Protection, secured a $700 million settlement from Credit Acceptance Corporation (CAC), a subprime auto lender, resolving allegations of deceptive and abusive lending. The lawsuit alleged CAC pushed tens of thousands of consumers into unaffordable loans with average interest rates above 38 percent, bundled with expensive add-on products consumers were told were mandatory or never told about, causing widespread defaults and vehicle repossessions. Note: this is a consumer-lending enforcement action rather than a privacy matter, so no privacy violation categories from the taxonomy apply.
$700K
New York Attorney General Letitia James secured a settlement with two Mt. Kisco car dealerships, DARCARS Lexus and DARCARS BMW, that deceptively charged a two percent 'sales commission' fee that was optional, provided no consumer benefit, and was never paid to the salesperson, and that misleadingly bundled a low-value aftermarket product ('DARCARS Assurance') into sales and lease agreements as if it were mandatory. The dealerships will pay more than $1.17 million in consumer refunds (with potentially millions more through a claims process) plus $700,000 in penalties. They must clearly disclose all future fees and add-ons, are banned from selling DARCARS Assurance or similar junk bundles at any New York dealership, and must conduct annual fair-business-practices training for all employees.
New York Attorney General Letitia James led a bipartisan coalition of 17 other state attorneys general in sending a letter to Congress opposing the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, warning that the bill would preempt state attorneys general authority to combat cryptocurrency fraud and scams. This is a legislative advocacy action, not an enforcement action against any company, and no penalties or remedies were imposed. The coalition urged Congress to preserve state enforcement power over both tokenized and non-tokenized securities and state crypto registration regimes.