Key Takeaways from the National Association of Attorneys General 2025 General Symposium

Beginning on April 7, 2025, the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) held its three-day Symposium in Nashville, Tennessee. Throughout the forum, attorneys general, their senior staff, federal officials, and other subject matter experts presented on a series of topics addressing important policy issues and the latest legal developments.  The uniting theme of the forum was in line with New Hampshire Attorney General and NAAG President John Formella’s presidential initiative titled, “Reimagining Solutions: Uniting Forces and Leveraging Innovative Partnerships to Combat Substance Abuse and Drug Trafficking.” Accordingly, the panels focused on issues related to natural disaster relief, combatting internet fraud schemes, and preventing drug abuse and child exploitation and demonstrated that attorneys general will continue bipartisan collaboration on certain issues that affect citizens across state lines.

Guardians in Crisis: How Attorneys General Protect and Serve During Natural Disasters

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez led a discussion with Louisiana’s Chief Deputy Attorney General Larry Frieman and the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office Consumer and Senior Protection Division Chief Chris Lewis regarding the crucial role of state and territory attorneys general during times of natural disasters.  The group explored the multifaceted responsibilities of attorneys general before, during, and after such events.

Attorney General Lopez emphasized the importance of being prepared for natural disasters.  Where disasters may occur, attorneys general play a critical role in providing essential information on disaster preparedness, enforcing price gouging laws, taking action against deceptive contractors, and issuing warnings about fraudulent charities.  Various scams develop around natural disasters, including false representation of government officials and sham businesses such as contracting services, rental properties, pest control, water treatment, and automobile repairs. To assist in combating these scams, Louisiana has a law providing a three-day cooling off period to allow for contract rescission at no penalty.

Mental Health and Public Safety: Leading Collaborative Efforts to Keep Communities Safe

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin and Pennsylvania Attorney General David Sunday, Jr. explored mental health partnered alternative response programs and their work improving such programs with law enforcement.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office leads a 24/7 Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative Program, with a mission to enhance public safety, reduce recidivism, and improve the well-being of individuals struggling with substance abuse.  As part of the program, law enforcement collaborates with mental health treatment providers and other stakeholders including social service agencies and advocacy groups.

In New Jersey, the Office of the Attorney General has a program called Arrive Together, standing for Alternative Responses to Reduce Instances of Violence and Escalation, which partners a community-based mental health counselor with a plainclothes police officer in an unmarked car during certain mental or behavioral health calls.  The office received $12 million in the state budget to have mental health counselors present at the time of an arrest and due to the success of the program, the budget has increased year to date to $20 million.  The program has been successful in eliminating injuries by law enforcement, resulting in savings from subsequent civil lawsuit damages.

Youth and Young Adult Suicide – The Silent Epidemic

Various subject matter experts addressed the mental health crisis of suicide ideation and how attorneys general’s offices can assist in prevention efforts.  Speakers included the Executive Director of the American Football Coaches Association, Craig Bohl; the Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of Acadia Healthcare, Brian Farley; the President of the Jason Foundation, Clark Flatt; and the Director of Corporate and Government Relations at the Jason Foundation and Former Tennessee Attorney General, Paul Summers.  The group announced a new program for college athletes that will help address mental health issues and highlighted the importance of the program to small and medium- sized colleges.

Social Engineering Scams – Enforcement and Policy Strategies for Combatting Crime and Protecting Consumers

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson led a discussion with Operation Shamrock founder Erin West and Stop Scams Alliance founder and CEO Ken Westbrook regarding social engineering scams perpetrated by international crime organizations.  According to recent reports, these scams cause United States residents to lose tens of billions of dollars each year.

The group encouraged attorneys general to come together as a community to fight “pig butchering,” which is a fraudulent scheme whereby scammers create fake companies and bank accounts to launder money obtained through cryptocurrency investment scams and other fraudulent activities.  Perpetrators often contact victims through dating platforms, social media, or unsolicited messages, sometimes pretending to be a wrong number.  Scammers build trust with their victims over time and eventually pitch the idea of making a cryptocurrency-based business investment.  Victims are then directed to fraudulent investment platforms run by other members of the scam network, where they are encouraged to invest additional money.  After the funds are sent to accounts controlled by the scammers, the platform often falsely shows substantial profits to lure victims into making more investments.  In the end, victims are unable to withdraw or recover their funds, often resulting in significant financial losses.

Experts reported that romance scammers have taken advantage of post-COVID loneliness in building trust with victims.  Romance scamming schemes are underreported, with only one in seven cases reported due to victim embarrassment.  Although these types of schemes resulted in a $5 billion loss in 2023, law enforcement believe the actual loss is closer to $35 billion.

The top states with citizens who have lost millions of dollars due to these scams include Washington, Georgia, California, Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Florida, and Texas. In March 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that in 2024, the California Department of Justice shut down 42 fraudulent websites that scammed victims out of at least $6.5 million, with an average loss per victim of $146,306.  The announcement also included some “red flags” to identify illegitimate websites.  The Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General also published guidance on spotting and avoiding a romance or “pig-butchering” scam.  

Although some states have made progress in combating cyber scams, other countries appear to be ahead of the United States in terms of enforcement and policy that prevent such crimes. For example, the U.S. government is required to warn website owners of an impending removal of their website, resulting in a three-to-four-week delay in fraudulent website removal. Comparatively, in the United Kingdom, the government can remove fraudulent websites immediately. Additionally, government telecommunication agencies in nineteen countries can block foreign calls posing as domestic callers. Although the United States has the technology to do the same, the Communications Act of 1934 encourages delivery of all calls and thus there is a reluctance to proactively block these types of calls. In addition, Australia and the United Kingdom block fake financial advertisements on the internet. In the United States, Google and Meta at least are working with the United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia, and Taiwan to ensure that advertisement sponsors are on an approved list.

The panelists stressed that the United States has more work to do in expanding protections for consumers and fighting against social engineering scams. Next steps include development of a comprehensive national strategy, an annual government survey of fraud, nationwide public education, nationwide removal of fraudulent websites, increased law enforcement efforts and funding, and centralized fraud reporting. Attorneys general across the country are encouraged to collaborate on these efforts together with other key stakeholders and policymakers.

Reimagining Solutions: Uniting Forces and Leveraging Innovative Partnerships to Combat Substance Abuse and Drug Trafficking

As part of his “Presidential Initiative,” NAAG President and Attorney General Formella guided a panel discussion exploring the critical role of collaboration among law enforcement, academia, and the private sector in addressing the opioid crisis, drug trafficking, and substance abuse. Panelists included the Meta Platforms, Inc. Law Enforcement Outreach Manager, Jim Crotty; the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) Special Agent in Charge of the Dangerous Drug Task Force, Thomas Farmer; and the Vanderbilt University Director of Outreach and Advocacy Programs and Assistant Professor of Research at the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, Kristen Gilliland.

The panelists discussed collaborations between Meta, which is using digital tools to address online drug-related content, and academic institutions like Vanderbilt University, which is partnering with agencies like TBI to provide evidence-based solutions for addiction prevention and treatment.

The topics and examples shared at the Symposium highlight the wide breadth of areas on which  attorneys general are able to work together in a bipartisan manner, including issues relating to natural disaster relief, combatting internet fraud schemes, and preventing drug abuse and child exploitation.