Colorado Consumer Complaints Reach Record High in 2025
Summary
The Colorado Attorney General's office reported a record number of nearly 27,000 consumer complaints in 2025, a 10% increase from 2024. The top complaint categories included retail sales, professional services, real estate, and debt collection. This notice highlights the importance of reporting scams during National Consumer Protection Week.
What changed
The Colorado Attorney General's office has released its annual report for National Consumer Protection Week, detailing a record high of 26,993 consumer complaints filed in 2025. This represents a 10% increase from the previous year and a more than 200% increase since 2019. The most frequent complaints were related to retail sales, professional services, real estate, and debt collection, with imposter scams also noted as a growing concern.
This notice serves to educate consumers about their rights and the importance of reporting fraudulent activity to law enforcement. While the document highlights the Attorney General's success in securing over $500 million in refunds and restitution since 2019, it does not impose new obligations or deadlines on regulated entities. Consumers are encouraged to continue reporting complaints to help identify trends and combat emerging scams.
Source document (simplified)
National Consumer Protection Week: Colorado consumers filed record number of complaints in 2025
March 2, 2026 (DENVER) – Kicking off National Consumer Protection Week, Attorney General Phil Weiser revealed today that consumers filed nearly 27,000 complaints with his office in 2025. Topping the list are complaints related to retail sales, professional services, real estate, and debt collection scams.
In total, Coloradans reported 26,993 complaints with the attorney general’s office in 2025, surpassing the previous record of 24,473 set in 2024. The total number of complaints rose over 10% from 2024.
Since 2019, complaints to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office have increased by over 200%.
“Every year since I took office, Coloradans have filed a record-setting number of consumer protection complaints. As scams get more advanced with the use of A.I., we want to keep hearing about them,” Weiser said. “Each complaint is valuable to us here at the Colorado Department of Law, as it informs our work and helps us spot trends. Thus far, the department has secured more than $500 million in refunds, restitution, credits, and debt relief for Coloradans during my time as Attorney General.”
Every year, the Department of Law recognizes National Consumer Protection Week, an initiative of the Federal Trade Commission, to educate consumers about their rights, how to avoid scams and fraud, and to highlight the importance of filing complaints with law enforcement.
The top 10 types of complaints and inquiries received in 2025 are:
| Top Types of Complaints & Inquiries for 2025 | | | |
| Description | 2025 | | |
| 1. Retail Sales | These include complaints relating to unauthorized memberships or subscriptions, service and delivery issues, and cancellation/termination issues. | 2,064 | |
| 2. Professional Services | These complaints include issues regarding product and service warranties, business support, and legal-related services. | 1,631 | |
| 3. Real Estate Sales & Services | These complaints include issues relating to rental and leasing, property management, and real estate related activities. | 1,328 | |
| 4. Debt Collection | These complaints include issues under the Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, including harassment or abuse by a debt collector, disputed debt, and phantom debt or unlicensed collection. | 1,227 | |
| 5. Automobile Sales & Services | | These complaints include issues relating to automotive purchases, service and repair, auto rentals, and towing services. | | These complaints include issues relating to automotive purchases, service and repair, auto rentals, and towing services. | 1,126 |
| These complaints include issues relating to automotive purchases, service and repair, auto rentals, and towing services. | | | |
| 6. Consumer Loans & Credit Sales | These complaints include issues under the Uniform Consumer Credit Code, including interest rates, and credit reporting. They also include unlicensed activity, including tribal lending. | 915 | |
| 7. Home Services & Repair | These complaints include issues relating to general contracting and remodeling, heating and cooling, and handyman services. | 892 | |
| 8. Imposter Scams | In many cases, these scams relate directly to fraudulent telephone calls, emails, or text messages from scammers posing as a government official or employee from a reputable company, often seeking monetary payments through gift cards, wire transfers, and other money transfer services. | 868 | |
| 9. Telecommunications | These complaints include issues under the Uniform Consumer Credit Code, including interest rates, and credit reporting. They also include unlicensed activity, including tribal lending. | 829 | |
| 10. Health Care & Medical Services | These complaints include issues relating to hospitals and urgent care, health and medical insurance carriers, health practitioners relating to quality of care, medical billing, and coverage issues. | 820 | |
Consumer protection actions taken in 2025:
- Attorney General Phil Weiser, FTC announce $24M settlement with Greystar for misleading renters about costs, saddling tenants with hidden fees
- AG Weiser secures $400k settlement with Dollar General for overcharging customers
- Attorney General Phil Weiser stops phony cancer charity from bilking donors (opens new tab)
- Phony immigration business agrees to shut down operations, pay fines in settlement with Attorney General Phil Weiser
- Cannabis companies to pay $400,000 fine, cease Colorado operations under settlement with Attorney General Phil Weiser
- Attorney General Phil Weiser sues to protect Colorado fans from Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s deceptive fees, ticket resale tactics
- Attorney General Phil Weiser alerts consumers on deleting data shared with 23andMe
- Bogus blackmail scams on the rise, warns Attorney General Phil Weiser Consumers should report scams, fraud, and other complaints at StopFraudColorado.gov (opens new tab) or by calling 800-222-4444.
Media Contact:
Maxwell Mead
Communications Specialist
720-369-1200 mobile
Maxwell.Mead@coag.gov
Semana Nacional de Protección al Consumidor
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