Business/Technology Reporter
Quick links: Why send spam to 7726 | Privacy screens and other tools | Junk fee complaints | DEN airport’s price-gouging policy | Take the reader poll | Other bits
Complaints about imposter scams fell last year by 28%, according to data shared this week by the Colorado Attorney General’s office.
That could mean Coloradans are getting smarter about avoiding scams or they’re not complaining about them. The drop was rare for a category that continued to rank in the AG’s annual top 10 list of consumer complaints in 2025.
The numbers keep going up, says AG Phil Weiser, who encourages Coloradans to keep him posted. From unauthorized subscriptions and rental agreements to debt collector abuse and cable bills, overall complaints were up 10% to an all-time annual record of nearly 27,000, or an average of 74 a day.
“As scams get more advanced with the use of AI, we want to keep hearing about them,” Weiser said in a statement. Consumers can file a complaint at coag.gov/file-complaint.
Imposter scams blew up in years past. In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission said there was a “four-fold increase since 2020” of older adults who had lost $10,000 or more to scammers who impersonated government agencies, businesses and even friends and family.
And often, those scams start with a phone call or text message. The major mobile services have their own ways to deal with those annoyances: T-Mobile has ScamShield, Verizon has Call Filter, and AT&T has ActiveArmor.
“AT&T helps protect customers from unwanted and potentially fraudulent communications by blocking or labeling as spam more than 2.5 billion robocalls each month, using machine learning and the power of our network,” Suzanne Trantow, an AT&T spokesperson, said in an email.
Why you should send spam to #7726
More than a decade ago, global mobile-service providers began promoting one number to consumers: “7726,” which spells out “spam” on a phone’s keypad.
The idea was to have consumers forward spammy, suspicious and unexpected text messages to 7726, which are sent directly to the customer’s mobile-service provider.
At Verizon, the forwarded message “goes to a central team that triages and then routes to the appropriate group for action,” said spokeswoman Liz Gelardi in an email. “Sending to SPAM or 7726 or ‘Report Junk’ allows your actions to help others in the future. By reporting it, you’re not only helping you, but helping the ecosystem to identify, autoblock and pursue these spammers.”
Wireless industry association CTIA said in an update last year that such efforts contributed to “wireless providers blocking over 55 billion spam texts (in 2024) alone — all before they reach consumers.”
Gelardi shared some additional tips to help stay out of fraud’s way:
- Samsung goes one step further with its Galaxy S26 Ultra with a software-based privacy screen that turns off pixels to prevent the screen from being visible from sneaky side angles. That feature alone has a reviewer at tech site BGR wanting to ditch their iPhone.
Related: The Colorado Division of Securities also jumped into consumer protection week to highlight the most common online scams: investment scams. Many start with unsolicited direct messages through social media, dating apps, texts, calls and emails. Best advice? Don’t respond. Victims should report investment fraud to the Division at 303-894-2320 or Dora_SecuritiesWebsite@state.co.us
23 complaints about junk fees so far
With this being National Consumer Protection Week (it ends Saturday), I checked in with the AG’s office to see if complaints were piling up about unexpected service charges at restaurants and other venues after the new law went into effect Jan. 1.
Just 23 complaints, said AG spokesperson Lawrence Pacheco.
“We cannot give details on complaints, but I can share that our department has received 23 complaints about deceptive fees since the law went into effect on Jan. 1 this year. The attorney general’s office cannot confirm or otherwise comment on investigations,” Pacheco said, referring to House Bill 1090 went into effect in January.
That’s far fewer than one might have thought, considering how many consumers are annoyed by surprise or hidden fees, or even expected fees. In an earlier What’s Working reader poll about junk fees, more than 500 folks weighed in, with many sharing comments and gripes about the topic. Here are a few:
“All are bait-and-switch tactics and leave bad experiences and less patronage.”
“All fees should be treated as a tax.”
“I really dislike cleaning fees even if disclosed.”
“When prices do not cover the total cost of operations, something is broken. Either break out everything as a cost, or don’t. It seems capricious and arbitrary when some costs are broken out, and others are not.”
“I’m naive. I don’t examine the breakdown of charges on a restaurant bill and automatically tip 20%. I will pay more attention from now on.”
Note to poll takers: I’d love to hear from the anonymous respondent who said they’re a new owner of a Fort Collins restaurant that ended the old “kitchen appreciation fee” and increased menu prices. Sound familiar? Contact me at tamara@coloradosun.com
Colorado’s junk fees debate isn’t over, although it is for House Bill 1012, which aimed to cap the price markup at stadiums, hospitals, airports and other “captive” settings where consumers have little choice.
The bill failed to pass out of committee this week after public testimony and some committee members pointed out that such venues tend to have higher operations costs, do have some competition, and overpaying for food at a sporting event where tickets are hundreds of dollars is a privilege.
But perhaps the doomed bill already has had some impact. After a 9News investigation last month that found some Denver International Airport vendors were violating a price-gouging policy, DEN officials said they began to look into the claims.
The airport’s policy limits the price of food and concessions to be no more than 15% above “street pricing,” or the cost for the same products outside the airport. 9News looked at 80 items and found 73% were marked up more than airport policy allowed.
➔ ICYMI: $10 stadium hot dog in Colorado lives on as effort to prevent high “captive audience” pricing meets demise. >> Read story
➔ Earlier: The fees Colorado consumers still face after “junk fee” law has taken effect
ICYMI: Take the poll
As a consumer, you may not think too much about what goes on behind the scenes of a local restaurant, let alone how it survives when the main product can go bad overnight. But do restaurants have it worse than other small businesses or even consumers who are just trying to get through to the next paycheck and, perhaps, enjoy life a little bit?
Take the latest What’s Working reader poll and help us track what Coloradans are experiencing. >> cosun.co/WWfoodie26
Sun economy stories you may have missed
➔ A once-blighted riverfront property is helping Grand Junction spur economic activity — just not exactly as envisioned. The $30 million revival of Las Colonias development along a stretch of Colorado River is starting to pay off despite competition from nearby Montrose >> Read story
➔ Colorado wrongly spent $78M on autism therapy, Office of the Inspector General says. The state must repay the federal government $42.6 million after “questionable billing patterns” >> Read story
➔ Gas prices in Colorado not immune to spikes despite country’s increase in oil production. Colorado drivers will also see price increases in a few weeks with the annual switch to less-polluting summer gas mix >> Read story
➔ Colorado fines Sinclair more than $365,000 after contaminated fuel distributed to 49 gas stations. More than 1,000 drivers filed complaints after the January mix-up put diesel gas into unleaded pumps and caused vehicles to sputter, stall >> Read story
➔ With Denver Summit FC, Rob Cohen is betting on Colorado falling in love with pro women’s sports. The chairman and CEO of IMA Financial has spent decades advocating for Denver as the founder of the city’s sports commission. Now he has a team of his own. >> Read story
➔ Colorado entrepreneurs build a holding company for employee-owned outdoor recreation businesses. The Outdoor Rec Collective plans a diverse collection of employee-owned outdoor companies to help owners sustain their brands while delivering higher wages. >> Read story
➔ Colorado joins effort to limit garnishing wages over medical debt. Lawmakers in eight states seek to rein in practice, after KFF Health News investigation into Coloradans who had money siphoned from paychecks for medical bills. >> Read story
➔ American outdoor recreation economy tops $1.3 trillion, with Colorado again in the top 10 states. Colorado’s outdoor economy again ranks in the top 10 in the nation. >> Read story
Other working bits
➔ Busy Colorado AG and actions that may impact you. On Friday, Weiser announced a settlement with Credence Resource Management, a Dallas debt collector accused of not being transparent with consumers. The company sent letters to 500 Colorado consumers from ambulance provider Falck Rocky Mountain but with CRM’s mailing address. CRM settled the AG’s claims by agreeing to end the practice and pay the AG’s office $43,500.
➔ New CSU nursing program links Fort Collins to Pueblo’s grad degrees. Starting this fall, nursing students at Colorado State University in Fort Collins can earn both an undergraduate and a graduate degree in five years. It’s part of the new 3+2 Direct Entry Nursing Program, where students complete their undergrad work in Fort Collins and then tap into the expertise of CSU Pueblo for a master of science in nursing leadership. Pueblo has room for 40 grad students a year from Fort Collins.
The 200-mile collaboration is a first of its kind for CSU, according to school officials, and it’s also a way to try to resolve an issue plaguing the health care industry: U.S. nursing schools turned away more than 80,000 qualified applicants from nursing programs in 2024 because of the lack of faculty, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
“The key advantages of this 3+2 program are time and cost to complete a dual degree program entering the nursing workforce,” said Susan Belport, the program director for the 3+2 nursing program in an email. “The opportunities for early career advancement and a shorter path to enter into post master’s degree specialty nursing roles include advanced practice nursing and/or a doctorate degree.” >> Details
➔ Colorado had highest annual US wage growth in January. At an average 5.9% increase to median salaries, workers in Colorado ranked the highest for wage growth nationwide, according to the latest Pay Insights from ADP, the global payroll and HR services company that looks at “over 15 million individual pay-change observations” monthly. Nationwide, the increase was 4.5% for those in the same job as a year earlier. For those who changed jobs midyear, median pay increased 6.3%.
That median wage is lower than what the Colorado Chamber Foundation is tracking through Aspen Technology Labs, which tracks job postings. Their latest report said full-time salaries in Colorado rose 6% over the year to a median salary of $65,000, making the state the 12th-highest median pay nationwide. >> More pay insights
Got some economic news or business bits Coloradans should know? Tell us: cosun.co/heyww
Thanks for sticking with me for this week’s report. ~ tamara
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What’s Working is a Colorado Sun column about surviving in today’s economy. Email tamara@coloradosun.com with stories, tips or questions. Read the archive, ask a question at cosun.co/heyww and don’t miss the next one by signing up at coloradosun.com/getww.
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