The Colorado Consumer Call Protection and Fraud Deterrence Act establishes that any person or entity placing an unsolicited telemarketing call to a number listed on the state or federal Do-Not-Call registry, or using an autodialer/prerecorded message without prior express written consent, is subject to a civil penalty of $1,500 per violation for a first offense, $5,000 per violation for a second offense within a 12-month period, and $10,000 per violation for each subsequent offense, with each individual call constituting a separate violation; calls determined to involve fraudulent intent — including but not limited to impersonation of a government agency, financial institution, or law enforcement, fictitious prize or lottery notifications, or fraudulent technical-support or subscription-renewal solicitations — are subject to a separate civil penalty of $25,000 per violation, treble damages where actual financial loss to the recipient is demonstrated, and referral for criminal prosecution under existing state fraud statutes where applicable; the Act grants recipients of unlawful calls a private right of action to recover the greater of actual damages or statutory damages of $500 per violation ($1,500 for willful violations) plus reasonable attorney's fees, without requiring proof of harm beyond the unauthorized call itself; the Colorado Attorney General is granted concurrent enforcement authority, including subpoena power to identify originating entities using number-spoofing or call-routing obfuscation, and may pursue injunctive relief to immediately halt ongoing campaigns pending resolution; all telecommunications carriers operating in the state are required to implement STIR/SHAKEN-compliant call authentication and offer free, opt-out network-level robocall blocking to all customers within 180 days of enactment, with carriers failing to comply subject to a $50,000 per-day penalty; all penalties collected under this Act are deposited into a newly created Colorado Consumer Fraud Restitution Fund, administered by the Attorney General's office, with 60% allocated to direct restitution for identified victims, 25% allocated to Attorney General enforcement operations and investigative technology, and 15% allocated to a public consumer education campaign on scam recognition and reporting; the Attorney General's office is required to publish an annual public report detailing the number of complaints received, enforcement actions taken, penalties collected, restitution distributed, and carrier compliance rates, with the first report due within 18 months of enactment and annually thereafter.
