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Jeff Jackson :
Uber, fake service dogs, and 50 chessboards
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A
snapshot of the last
few weeks
A
long time ago, I
told you that being
Attorney General
feels like someone
set up 50
chessboards in front
of me, and my job is
to make smart moves
on your behalf
across all of them.
At
the time, I used
this image:
But
state buildings are
far less grand, so
I’m updating with
this:
I
can’t update you on
50 chessboards each
week, so I usually
pick one or two.
For
example, we just won
a $200 million case
against FEMA. That
was a big win, so in
my last email, I
focused on that.
But
there’s a tension
between brevity and
reality.
The
shorter the email,
the less accurately
it reflects the
actual scope of our
work. I often get
replies like, “Glad
you’re tackling X,
but what about Y!?”
- when the truth is,
I usually am tackling
Y, I’m just keeping
the email short.
So,
this is my attempt
to cover a lot of
moves from the last
few weeks in one go.
Here’s a snapshot:
-
Fake Service
Dogs: We
convicted a man
of 50 felonies
for selling fake,
untrained
“service dogs”
to 50 families.
He claimed they
were trained to
help children
with
developmental
needs, but they
were actually
untrained and
dangerous. He is
now permanently
banned from
selling animals
and must pay
$353,000 in
restitution to
the defrauded
families.
-
Protecting
Federal Funds: We
won a case
against the EPA
when they tried
to cut $100
million in
funding for
North Carolina.
This brings the
total amount of
federal funding
we’ve protected
for our state to
roughly $1.6
billion since
I’ve been AG.
We’re proud of
that number.
-
Saving Medical
Research: We
won a permanent
injunction
against the
National
Institutes of
Health (NIH) to
stop a massive
cut to medical
research funding.
They attempted
to slash the
funding that
pays for the
labs and
logistics behind
the science,
which would have
cost North
Carolina
hundreds of
millions of
dollars and
threatened
thousands of
jobs in our
research sector.
This is one of
those cases you
didn’t hear
about much because we
won. If we
hadn’t, it would
have been a
disaster for our
state.
-
Utility Hikes: We
formally
intervened in
Duke Energy’s
proposed rate
increases of 15
percent over the
next two years.
This legal
mechanism allows
my office to
become a party
to the case,
cross-examine
experts, and
speak up for
ratepayers.
-
Mercedes-Benz
Settlement: We
joined other AGs
to secure a
nearly $150
million
settlement
regarding
“defeat devices”
- software
designed to
cheat emissions
tests by
altering
performance when
regulators are
monitoring the
vehicle.
-
Suing Uber: We
sued Uber for
deceptive
billing
practices,
specifically
regarding
unjustified
cancellation
fees and the use
of design
choices intended
to trick users.
Uber promoted a
$9.99 a month
subscription
service and told
customers they
could cancel
anytime. In
reality, Uber
misled people
about how much
they could save
and made it
difficult to
cancel after
they signed up.
In some
instances, Uber
required
customers to
navigate up to
23 screens, take
at least 32
actions, and
wait for a
response from a
customer service
representative
to cancel.
That’s deceptive,
and that’s why
we’re suing.
-
Hyundai & Kia
Thefts: We
reached a $9
million
settlement
regarding the
security flaw
that made
Hyundai and Kia
cars viral
targets for
theft due to
their lack of
standard engine
immobilizers. (This
was why there
was a TikTok
trend telling
people how easy
it was to steal
these cars.)
-
Medicaid Fraud: We
secured
convictions in
two major
Medicaid fraud
cases involving
medical
providers who
billed the
system for care
they never
provided,
recovering over
$20 million for
state taxpayers.
This was
egregious fraud
that stole money
from taxpayers.
-
“Buy Now, Pay
Later” Inquiry: We
launched an
official inquiry
into “Buy Now,
Pay Later”
lenders like
PayPal and
Klarna to see if
they’re
violating the
Truth in Lending
Act and trapping
users in debt
cycles. These
lenders are
exploding in
popularity
because they’ve
been integrated
into the
checkout process
for a lot of
major online
retailers, and
it means lots of
people -
especially young
people - could
be vulnerable to
deceptive
practices.
-
Predatory Real
Estate: We
won a judgment
against a
company called
MV Realty, whose
predatory
business model
involved giving
homeowners a
little bit of
money up front
in exchange for
them signing a
40-year
exclusive
listing
agreement that
was recorded as
a lien on their
property. We put
a lot of work
into this
because it was
highly abusive
to low-income
homeowners. The
General Assembly
actually passed
a law
specifically
banning this
practice as a
result of this
case.
-
Crime Lab
Milestone: Some
folks don’t know
that NCDOJ also
runs the state’s
three biggest
crime
laboratories.
Last week, those
labs hit a
milestone of
10,000 hits on
gun evidence
using the
national
ballistics
information
system, which
analyzes shell
casings to link
crimes across
different
jurisdictions.
Every time a
bullet is fired,
the gun leaves
marks on the
shell casing
that are highly
distinct, which
allows this
technology to
determine if the
same gun was
used at two
different
shootings. North
Carolina is a
national leader
in the use of
this technology,
and it’s a
remarkable
milestone that
it has now
produced 10,000
leads for law
enforcement in
cases that
involved a
shooting.
-
Generic Drug
Prices: We
have a big case
against generic
drug
manufacturers,
whom we allege
are engaged in a
massive market
allocation
conspiracy to
keep prices
artificially
high. They
launched a fight
to try to get
our lawsuit
dismissed, but
they failed.
That was a big
step forward for
the case.
-
Rental Market
Collusion: We
secured a
settlement from
Greystar, the
state’s largest
landlord (25,000
units). This is
part of our
larger suit
against RealPage,
a software
company used by
landlords to
share private
data and collude
to raise rents.
-
UNC-Duke: We
got reports of
scammers using
social media to
sell counterfeit
tickets to the
UNC-Duke men’s
basketball game,
so we responded
to those
complaints and
issued an alert
about the scam.
Finally, we saw
progress on some
things I can’t fully
discuss yet, like:
-
Our effort to
defeat the safe
haven for money
laundering
provided by the
global messaging
app WeChat
-
Shutting down an
unlicensed mine
in western North
Carolina
-
More work
getting FEMA to
support
post-Helene
recovery
-
Expanding our
war against
robocalls
So
that’s a lot, but
it’s just a fraction
of the 10,000
active cases we
have at NCDOJ.
There’s just a lot
going on.
That
said, this job is a
joy. The people
around me are
brilliant and
dedicated, our
battles are worthy,
and we win a lot. I
love coming to work
each morning.
Thanks for making it
to the bottom of a
long email, and I
promise the next one
will be shorter :)
Best,
Jeff
Share
P.S.
- Avery
is becoming a really
good climber! Next
stop, Taipei 101.
© 2026 Jeff Jackson
Jeff Jackson for
Attorney General,
P.O. Box 470882
Charlotte, NC 28226,
United States
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