Colorado Attorney General John Suthers unveiled today statistics on the top consumer complaints for 2010 and the first two months of 2011 to mark the beginning of National Consumer Protection Week.“Investigating companies that defraud Colorado consumers is one of the most important jobs of Colorado’s attorney general,” Suthers said. “Thanks to our aggressive outreach, warning consumers about prevalent scams and informing Coloradans on how to protect themselves, we have made great progress over the past five years. The growing number of complaints Coloradans submit to us highlights the strides we have made in informing consumers about types of fraud and how to report scams to us as well as our federal counterparts.”
During the 2010 calendar year, Colorado consumers filed 6,462 complaints with the Office of the Attorney General — a nearly 37 percent increase over 2009’s total of 4,723 complaints and a 117 percent increase over 2008’s total of 2,969 complaints.
The top 10 types of complaints received last year were:
Type of business Complaints
1 Rebate offers 704
2 Utility complaints
(cable and satellite television) 535
3 Consumer finance and loan companies 359
4 Personal care products 215
5 Online shopping services 191
6 Roofing and guttering contractors 174
7 Telephone (Cell phones and equipment) 151
8 Magazine subscription agents 143
9 Tanning salons 138
10 Automobile dealers 120
By business, the top 10 complaint-getters for 2010 were:
Business Complaints
1 National Energy Rebate Fund 621
2 Real Talk Network 337
3 DirecTV 271
4 At Last Fulfillment 217
5 Dish Network 197
6 At The Beach 137
7 Vacation Ventures 100
8 American Shingle 85
9 Qwest 85
10 Video Professor, Inc. 81
During January and February 2011, Colorado consumers filed 703 of complaints with the Office of the Attorney General. The top 10 types of complaints were:
Type of business Complaints
1 Utility complaints
(cable and satellite television) 77
2 Tanning salons 70
3 Telephone (Cell phones and equipment) 22
4 Internet shopping services 19
5 Telephone (equipment and systems dealers) 16
6 Consumer finance and loan companies 16
7 Business consultants 9
8 Magazine subscription agents 9
9 Rebate offers 9
10 Automobile dealers 8
The top 10 complaint-getters by business for January and February 2011 were:
Business Complaints
1 At The Beach 70
2 DirecTV 45
3 Dish Network 22
4 Real Talk Network 16
5 Qwest 16
6 Corporate Acquisitions Group 9
7 National Energy Rebate Fund 8
8 Western Union 8
9 E-470 Public Highway Authority 6
10 Ivory White 6
If a consumer believes they have been defrauded or victimized by a Colorado business or nonprofit, they can file a report by visiting www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov/complaint or by calling 1-800-222-4444. Consumers interested in receiving updates on the latest scams facing Coloradans as well as information on how to avoid being victimized can sign up for the Consumer Fraud Awareness newsletter by visiting www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov/fraudawareness.
To learn more about the Office of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section and its recent cases, visit www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov. To learn more about National Consumer Protection Week, visit www.consumer.gov.
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