DENVER (KDVR) — Ever had to complain to the state about a scam or something broken with the system? Turns out you’re not alone.
Attorney General Phil Weiser addressed the top complaints sent to his office in 2021 during a news conference Monday. Consumers filed 13,970 complaints to his office in 2021, a 15% increase from the year before.
This week is National Consumer Protection Week, and Weiser is taking time to highlight the most common scams from unemployment insurance to retail sales to empower consumers/
Below is a rundown of the top complaints, as provided by the attorney general’s office:
| Type of Complaint or Inquiry | Description | Number of Complaints |
| Retail Sales | These involve complaints relating to unauthorized memberships or subscriptions, service and delivery issues, and cancellation and termination issues, many of which were related to the COVID-19 pandemic. | 1266 |
| Unemployment Scams | These complaints include fraudulent unemployment claims where someone used stolen personal information to file for unemployment benefits in the name of someone else. | 995 |
| Automotive Sales and Service | These complaints include issues about automotive purchases, service and repair, and automobile rentals. | 758 |
| Professional and Other Related Services | These complaints include issues about product and service warranties, business support, and legal-related services. | 728 |
| Commercial and Residential Home Services & Repair | These complaints include issues about general contracting and remodeling, heating and cooling, and handyman services. | 727 |
| Vacation and Travel | These complaints include issues about timeshare reselling services, travel agencies, and general lodging. | 678 |
| 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. | 532 |
| Health Care and Medical Services | These complaints include issues about hospitals and urgent care, health and medical insurance carriers, and health practitioners relating to quality of care, billing, and coverage issues. | 508 |
| Telecommunications | These include issues such as billing disputes, service or coverage issues, rate changes, fees and surcharges, and cancellation and termination issues. | 490 |
| Real Estate Sales and Services | These complaints include issues about rental and leasing, property management, and real estate-related activates. | 460 |
“We’re seeing more and different types of organized criminal activity, we talked about this in unemployment insurance fraud, another one is online retail theft,” Weiser said. “The net effect of both of these frauds is to harm the public and to harm consumers and so we’re vigilant about both of them.”
When it comes to complaints about retail scams, which dominated as the top thing Colorado consumers complained about, many were tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, including issues getting refunds for canceled concerts.
“Concerts were a big one, summer trips were another,” Weiser said. “These took time but we worked through complaints we’ve gotten from people and obtained significant relief from Ticketmaster, from Stub Hub. This is a core principle: consumers should get what they paid for.”
More than 8,600 Coloradans were refunded more than $3 million from Stub Hub, after Weiser and nine other states reached a settlement with the company.
Just last week, Colorado’s Unemployment Task Force charged 17 people for unlawfully scamming the state out of at least $73 million in bogus unemployment claims.
You can watch the full discussion on FOX31 NOW in the player above.
