Week In Review
This week, I joined President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Attorney General William Barr and law enforcement leaders from across our country at the White House for a discussion on policing. As Florida’s Attorney General, a former federal prosecutor, judge and wife of a law…
Hurricane season is here and in Florida that means hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. This week, I released our 2020 Hurricane Preparedness Guide, full of tips and tools to help Floridians get ready for a tropical storm or hurricane—should disaster strike. There have already been…
We are living in extraordinary times, and as we all have learned, just because we have been forced to focus on COVID-19 doesn’t mean our other challenges have gone away. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen reports of an increase in opioid-related overdoses in Florida, affecting some as…
This week, I issued a Consumer Alert for Floridians with loved ones residing in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Reports of these facilities seizing residents’ stimulus payments are beginning to surface nationwide. According to the Federal Trade Commission, some facility operators…
As you may know by now, I am a huge supporter of law enforcement. One of my top priorities as Attorney General is to foster better relationships between our law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. And as the wife of a law enforcement officer, I know first-hand the sacrifice and…
Throughout this health crisis we have seen a steady increase in COVID-19 related robocalls, and this week, my office, along with a bipartisan coalition of 52 attorneys general, requested more tools to stop these scam messages. We are urging USTelecom and its Industry Traceback Group to further…
I make it a priority to regularly recognize in person our outstanding law enforcement officers and the citizens going out of their way to support them. Their efforts are honored through our Back the Blue Award, but with Floridians social distancing to stop the spread of COVID-19, we temporarily…
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures—like statewide stay-at-home orders and prolonged social distancing. Most Floridians are following the rules and doing their part to slow the spread of COVID-19. I want to encourage Floridians to continue working together to help us stop this…
It will take a statewide team if we are going to beat COVID-19, and that is why I partnered with a Floridian who knows a lot about teamwork—University of Florida football legend and three-time Super Bowl Champion Emmitt Smith, to encourage Floridians to join our team in fighting the pandemic.…
With more Floridians than ever before working from home and holding virtual meetings, a new trend called Zoombombing is emerging. This week, I issued a Consumer Alert to warn Floridians of this new threat to online privacy. Zoombombing occurs when hackers hijack internet video conferences, like…
As the federal government prepares to make payments mandated through the coronavirus stimulus package, scammers are making efforts to steal those benefits. This week, I issued a Consumer Alert to warn Floridians about emerging stimulus scams and provide tips to help them avoid falling prey to…
As we continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic impacting our state, an altogether different type of disease is emerging—scammers using the crisis to rip off Floridians. We will not tolerate anyone taking advantage of Floridians who are simply trying to protect the health and safety of their…
This week, I issued a Consumer Alert to warn Floridians about scams related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, a malicious website displaying a live map of COVID-19 cases mimicking a legitimate map by Johns Hopkins University was reported. Clicking on the website releases malware that can…
This week, Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in response to the spread of COVID-19 in Florida. When the governor makes an emergency declaration, the state’s price gouging laws go into effect. To help deter any price gouging related to COVID-19, I activated Florida’s Price…
This week, we celebrated National Consumer Protection Week by providing tips and highlighting the millions of dollars in recoveries obtained for consumers in Florida and nationwide. Protecting consumers is a major focus of our office and over the past year, we have launched several major…
This week, we recognized the one-year anniversary of our Back the Blue Award. When I became Attorney General, I wanted to create a program to foster respect for our great law enforcement officers and recognize those working hard to support them. Then I had this idea of creating an award to…
The 2020 Census is underway, and this week, we issued a Consumer Alert to warn Floridians that scammers may try to exploit this mandatory count to steal personal information. The U.S. Census serves a critical role in the function of our representative government, and participation is mandatory.…
This week, I had the pleasure of speaking to local government officials at the Cyber Florida workshop in Marion County. Local governments are increasingly coming under attack by cybercriminals. Last year, several cities, and at least one Florida school district, were held hostage by these tech-…
In recognition of National Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week, I issued a Consumer Alert full of tips to help taxpayers protect their personal information. Tax season is a prime time for criminals to try and steal your identity or file for a return in your name. Luckily, there are steps you can…
This Sunday, Super Bowl LIV will light up South Florida. It’s an exciting time and we are lucky that Florida has the honor of hosting this worldwide event. Hundreds of thousands of fans are in Florida to watch the game and participate in the festivities. While the visitors create a boom for our…