The Consumer Protection Division protects Mississippians from unfair, anticompetitive, and deceptive business practices that harm our community. The Division’s efforts include protecting consumer privacy and advocacy against illegal robocalls, and, following our 2012 National Mortgage Settlement, the Division has continued to serve as a liaison between mortgage companies and borrowers having difficulty with their mortgages. The Division partners with other attorneys general, the private bar, federal enforcers, and Mississippi businesses, and our attorneys civilly enforce the Mississippi Consumer Protection Act, Mississippi antitrust statutes, the Mississippi data breach notification statute, and other laws such as the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in order to protect Mississippians. The Division also carries out the Attorney General’s statutory duties before the Mississippi Public Service Commission and monitors issues that come before the Commission, which may impact Mississippi consumers.
Contact a Consumer Mediator for Help
Being well-informed is your best defense against scammers, but even the most cautious consumer sometimes needs some assistance. If you need to talk to one of our consumer mediators for help, click here to fill out a consumer complaint form or click here to send an email to a mediator.
Outside Legal Counsel
To increase the capacity of the Consumer Protection Division and to minimize the cost of litigation for the State of Mississippi, the Attorney General’s Office employs the assistance of private attorneys to address a fraction of cases, especially highly specialized or costly subjects and securities cases on behalf of the Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS). The Attorney General’s Office maintains full control over such litigation, and all contracts between the Attorney General’s Office and private attorneys are freely available for inspection on this website and are a matter of public record. There may also be a small number of instances in which private counsel are retained because ethics rules create a conflict which prohibit a case from being handled internally.
The Attorney General’s Office reviews the hourly time sheets of the private attorneys and does not pay for hours or expenses the Office deems to be excessive. Private attorneys on contingency fee contracts are paid only in the event of a successful outcome for the State, eliminating any financial risk or impact to the State budget. The Attorney General’s Office standard contingency fee contract contains a fee schedule based in statute that is significantly below the rates paid by private clients and is also below established bar rates.
Before agreeing to a contingency fee contract, the Attorney General first determines whether the particular matter has merit and will benefit the State, whether the case can be handled internally, and, if not, whether private counsel has sufficient resources, knowledge, and skill to handle the litigation. The following contracts represent active contingency fee cases. This list will be updated periodically as cases are resolved and new cases are added. If you would like to speak to our attorneys about a case idea, please contact outsidecounsel@ago.ms.gov
Active contracts, including those brought on behalf of PERS, can be found below.
3M
16th Section Land
Boeing
Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Catalent, Inc.
Cerence
Columbia
Facebook
Forestar
Google AdTech
Insulin
McDermott
Meritor
Meta
Mississippi Delta Community College
Mylan
PBMs/GPOs
Purdue Pharma
Seagate
TAL Education
For the most recent report of fees from the Attorney General Contingent Fund, click here.
Important Consumer Protection Statutes
Robocall and Telemarketing Enforcement
Effective July 1, 2023, the Attorney General's Office enforces the Mississippi Telephone Solicitation Act and other laws to protect Mississippi residents and businesses from unwanted sales calls and texts.
Mississippi uses the National Do Not Call list for registrations. To register, go to www.donotcall.gov or call from the phone you are registering: 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236). Cell phones, landlines, and VoIP numbers are eligible for registry.
If you were registered previously on the separate Mississippi Do Not Call list, your registration remains active. You will not need to change your registration.
Criminals often use fake telemarketing as a tool to reach their victims. If your number on the Do Not Call Registry and you receive an unsolicited sales call, it is probably fraudulent. If you continue to receive calls one month after registering, you may file a complaint with our office.
FAQs
Consumer Tips:
- Be leery of unknown callers and don’t be afraid to hang up.
- Don't press 1 to speak to a live operator or any other number to get your number off the list. If you respond by pressing any number or speak with the robocaller or telemarketer, it may lead to more calls.
- Use call blocking features on your device, from your carrier, or on other apps.
- Forward spam texts to 7726.
- For more information, go to https://consumer.ftc.gov/.
More information on the Telemarketing Registration for Solicitors is available here.
No Call Complaints
Click here to file a No Call Complaint online.
Solicitor Forms
Click here to access the Solicitor Forms
Solicitor Login
Submit the following:
- Completed Telephonic Solicitor Registration Application
- $75,000 Surety Bond payable to the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office or verification that prior bond is still current.
- Completed Contracted Company forms (if applicable).
- A file containing all outgoing telephone numbers used for telemarketing calls to comply with RP28 100.6.c of the Rules Implementing the Mississippi Telephone Solicitation Act.
- The file must be a plain text file containing a single column of records with one line per record.
- Each record in the file must have the following layout: Telephone number: 9998887777.
- The telephone number(s) must be all digits without dashes or spaces, e.g. 9998887777.
- Non-text files, e.g. Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF, will be returned as unacceptable
- A copy of the sales script used for telemarketing calls.*
- A copy of all sales information and literature provided to your salespeople.*
- A copy of all written material you send to perspective or actual purchasers.*
- A printed list of all telemarketing sites from which calls are made; to include the site’s physical address, mailing address, and names and contact information for two supervisors with the capacity to answer complaints and inquiries. If the telemarketing company for whom you are registering will not be making calls or texts in Mississippi, an affidavit to this effect may be submitted in lieu of the list.
- A copy of the entity’s Federal Trade Commission confirmation that shows: Organization’s Legal Name, ID #, National DNC Registry Subscription Account Number (SAN #,) and SAN expiration date.
* For those who have previously provided such, verification that this item has not changed since submission will suffice, as applicable.
Click here to access the Solicitors Login.
Crystal Utley Secoy,
Consumer Protection
Crystal Utley Secoy is the Director of the Mississippi Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division. Crystal leads and participates in civil investigations and litigation relating to unfair and deceptive business practices, including privacy and antitrust, in conjunction with other attorneys general and federal agencies. She previously advised the Attorney General’s Office on policy issues and served as Legislative Liaison. Crystal is a certified Information Privacy Professional and a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Crystal served as Pro Bono Counsel for the Mississippi Center for Justice for four years where she received the Spirit of Service Award from the Corporation for National and Community Service and awards from Governor Haley Barbour and the American Red Cross. Lastly, Crystal practiced law in Charleston, South Carolina before returning home to Mississippi to coordinate Katrina-related legal aid and pro bono for MCJ in 2006. She obtained an International Business Degree from the College of Charleston and her J.D. from the Mississippi College School of Law.
Crystal is a lector and litanist at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral and serves on the Cathedral’s Children and Youth Commission and Parish Life Commission.
