New Mexico Attorney General's Weekly News Roundup for Week of September 15, 2024

New Mexico Attorney General's Weekly News Roundup for Week of September 15, 2024Photo by2nd Life Media

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a lawsuit against Voupre Spa and its owners, accusing them of defrauding customers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Voupre allegedly used aggressive and deceptive practices to lure individuals into their store, often charging customers double or triple the verbally agreed-upon prices.

“Thanks to consumer complaints, we launched an investigation that uncovered the fraudulent tactics Voupre used to extract unjustified amounts from unsuspecting patrons,” said Attorney General Torrez. “Today’s lawsuit demonstrates our commitment to holding businesses accountable and protecting New Mexicans from being taken advantage of.”

The lawsuit is based on the NMDOJ’s investigation, which found that Voupre charged customers for products they didn’t agree to or receive, using misleading claims and aggressive sales tactics. Consumers were pressured into purchases, only to find their credit cards charged for inflated amounts, well beyond what was agreed.

One of the experiences detailed in the complaint describes how Voupre staff promised a consumer that a facial machine would cost $1,300. However, the company ultimately charged the consumer’s credit card approximately $13,000—an overcharge that the consumer only discovered when reviewing her bank statement. This is just one of many experiences listed in the complaint.

The NMDOJ encourages any consumers affected by Voupre Spa to file a complaint at nmdoj.gov/get-help.

A copy of the complaint is attached.2024-09-12 Complaint

Attorney General Raúl Torrez addresses roak of social media platforms on choldren in a letter to congress...

In a letter to Congress, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez and 41 other attorneys general called on lawmakers to pass legislation requiring a U.S. surgeon general warning on all algorithm-driven social media platforms.

The letter comes amidst growing scrutiny of social media companies for their role in generational harm to young people’s mental health. The attorneys general cited growing bodies of research that link young people’s use of these platforms to psychological harm, including depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts in kids and teens. They also note how platforms feature irresistible algorithmic recommendations, infinite scrolling, and a constant stream of notifications are designed to keep kids relentlessly engaged on the platforms, even at the expense of taking breaks, engaging in other activities, or sleeping.

“With our lawsuits against Meta and Snapchat, we are taking a pivotal stand to hold social media giants accountable for the harm they are inflicting on our children,” said Attorney General Torrez.“These companies have designed their platforms without prioritizing user safety, placing profits ahead of the well-being of young people. It’s time for stronger federal action to address these systemic issues and protect our youth, I support the Surgeon General and urge Congress to require this warning label.” In addition to AG Torrez’s and other attorneys general efforts, the group say more action is necessary because “social media platforms have demonstrated an unwillingness to fix the problem on their own.”

The attorneys general from California, Colorado, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, and Tennessee co-led the letter to Congress. Joining them are the attorneys general from Alabama, American Samoa, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

A copy of the letter is attached.

SM Warning Label Letter

Special Agents from the New Mexico Department of Justice’s (NMDOJ) Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit arrested and charged Perry Pool with possession of sexual exploitation of children (under the age of 13).

Earlier this year, the NMDOJ’s ICAC unit received 12 cyber tips related to potential Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) that Pool was allegedly in possession of. The initial review of the cyber tips led back to the defendant’s IP address that he used to view the CSAM images identified by Microsoft. From that point, ICAC agents obtained a warrant to search Pool’s residence on September 4th. During the execution of the search warrant, CSAM images were viewed in open tabs on the Defendant’s computer and electronic devices were seized that have been identified as also containing CSAM.

Pool has been booked and detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center. A video of the perp-walk can be found here.

The arrest warrant is attached.

Pool Arrest Warrant

The investigation was brought as a part of the NMDOJ’s ICAC Division, whose mission is to locate, track, and capture internet child sexual predators and internet child pornographers in New Mexico. There are 86 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the New Mexico ICAC Division, which is funded by a grant administered by the NMDOJ. Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement

Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced the filing of a lawsuit against Snap, Inc. to protect children from sextortion, sexual exploitation, and harm. In the lawsuit, the New Mexico Department of Justice describes how Snapchat’s policies, seemingly ephemeral content, and recommendation algorithm foster the sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and facilitate child sexual exploitation.

“Our undercover investigation revealed that Snapchat’s harmful design features create an environment where predators can easily target children through sextortion schemes and other forms of sexual abuse,” said Attorney General Torrez. “Snap has misled users into believing that photos and videos sent on their platform will disappear, but predators can permanently capture this content and they have created a virtual yearbook of child sexual images that are traded, sold, and stored indefinitely. Through our litigation against Meta and Snap, the New Mexico Department of Justice will continue to hold these platforms accountable for prioritizing profits over children’s safety.”

Over the last several months, the New Mexico Department of Justice conducted an investigation into Snap’s platforms, and its complaint against Snap states, in part, that:

• Due to its design features, Snapchat is a primary platform used by criminals to carry out sextortion. Sextortion, one of the most rapidly growing crimes targeting young people, often occurs when a predator pretends to be a victim’s peer and coerces a minor into sending explicit images or videos of themselves, and then threatens to distribute this private material unless the minor pays the predator. Tragically, sextortion has caused numerous teen suicides.
• Sextortion is so common and simple for predators to carry out on Snapchat that criminals circulate sextortion scripts that provide playbooks for victimizing minors. Though these sextortion scripts are publicly accessible, these scripts “have not yet been blacklisted by . . . Snapchat” and are “actively being used today against victims.”
• Snapchat is a primary social media platform for sharing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Parents report that their children share more CSAM on Snapchat than on any other platform, minors report having more online sexual interaction on Snapchat than any other platform, and more sex trafficking victims are recruited on Snapchat than on any other platform.
• An undercover investigation carried out by the New Mexico DOJ revealed a vast network of dark web sites dedicated to sharing stolen, non-consensual sexual images from Snap – finding more than 10,000 records related to Snap and CSAM in the last year alone, including information related to minors younger than 13 being sexually assaulted. Snapchat was by far the largest source of images and videos among the dark web sites investigated.
• Undercover New Mexico DOJ investigators found many Snapchat accounts that openly captured, circulated, and sold CSAM directly on Snapchat’s platform are connected to each other through Snapchat’s recommendation algorithm.
• As part of the undercover investigation, the New Mexico DOJ set up a decoy Snapchat account for a 14 year-old named Heather, who found and exchanged messages with these dangerous accounts, including ones named “child.rape” and “pedo_lover10,” in addition to others that are even more explicit. Several of these accounts attempted to coerce the underage persona into sharing CSAM.
• Snap designed its platform specifically to make it addicting to young people, which has led some of its users to depression, anxiety, sleep deprivation, body dysmorphia, and other mental health issues.
• Snapchat is one of the most popular social media platforms for teens in the United States. In fact, more than 20 million teens in the U.S. use Snapchat, and half of all teens in the U.S. use Snapchat every day.

The New Mexico Department Justice takes this action because Snapchat has endangered the health and safety of New Mexico’s youth. For example, as detailed in the complaint, in 2023, Alejandro Marquez plead guilty and was sentenced to 18 years in prison after the Albuquerque Police Department confirmed he raped an 11-year-old girl he met through Snapchat’s “Quick Add” feature and messaged her on the platform.

The complaint further alleges that Snapchat’s features, algorithms, and policies fail its young users. For example, many teens think they are protected by Snapchat’s “disappearing” photos and videos, which draws predators to the site who easily, stealthily, and permanently capture explicit content. Additionally, Snapchat fails to verify users, and thus the platform is unable to prevent minors from accessing illegal and inappropriate content. On Snapchat, as the complaint details, sexually explicit materials and predators are frequently recommended to minors.

The New Mexico DOJ also alleges Snap and its executives have misled the public about the platform’s safety, including during congressional testimony and in a 2024 Super Bowl advertisement that declares the platform is “more private” and “less permanent” than other social media platforms.

The New Mexico Department of Justice filed its lawsuit against Snap, Inc. just months after achieving a significant victory in its litigation against Meta. In its case against Meta, which focuses on the platform’s role in enabling child sexual exploitation, the judge denied Meta’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit – including rejecting Meta’s argument that Section 230 provided the company immunity against the alleged misconduct.

The New Mexico Department of Justice has developed and compiled resources for teens and parents to protect themselves and their families from the threats posed by social media platforms. Resources can be found here.

Complaint for Abatement and Civil Penalties and Demand for Jury Trial.