Claims from scam victims coming in for new restitution fund

Minnesotans who have been the victims of consumer scams have a new option for seeking possible restitution.

The Legislature created the Consumer Protection Restitution Account in 2025 to pay eligible consumers who don’t have the possibility of restitution. The Attorney General’s Office has begun receiving claims for the fund from consumers who have been defrauded by either known or unknown defendants.

The first claims that will be processed are for patients of a Woodbury dentist who continued to practice with a suspended dental license and collected fees from patients. The dentist then shut down his practice without giving notice to patients, leaving them without refunds or access to their dental records or products such as their dentures, Deputy Attorney General Jessica Whitney told the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee Wednesday.

The attorney general’s office has received more than 300 claims connected to the dentist, Whitney said. The office is currently reviewing the claims, which will likely total under $5 million, and then begin paying claimants restitution.

Next in the queue for restitution are two cases involving contractors who falsely told consumers they were licensed. The Attorney General’s Office has also received more than 100 complaints involving more traditional scams, such as the “grandparents scam,” for which a defendant isn’t identifiable. Of those, nine have claims over $500,000, totaling $5.2 million, and one claim totaling more than $1.5 million, Whitney said.

Minnesotans can file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office when they are a victim of a consumer scam. The office will pursue a case and receive a court order for restitution. If the defendant doesn’t have the funds for restitution, the office can distribute the funds from the Consumer Protection Restitution Account, according to Whitney.

[MORE: Attorney General’s Office presentation]

Thomas Elness, Minnesota director of advocacy at AARP, said the restitution fund’s impact will be “profound,” especially for older Minnesotans. It creates an incentive for residents to report scams to law enforcement and provides a recovery option for residents who have lost money.

A total of $4.6 million has been deposited into the fund since it began July 1, 2025, a large portion of which came from the Attorney General Office’s lawsuit settlement over Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder products, according to Whitney. The money in the fund comes from 50% of all money recovered by the Attorney General’s Office in consumer enforcement action up to the first $5 million each fiscal year and restitution funds that can’t be feasibly distributed to consumers.

The first of the annual reports detailing the money going into the account and the distributions to consumers from the account is due to the Legislature by Oct. 15, 2026.

The law regulating the account requires the Attorney General’s Office to pay full restitution to eligible consumers. Whitney suggested the Legislature tweak the law to allow the office to pro-rate or cap payments to eligible consumers if there’s insufficient funds in the account for full restitution so more consumers can receive restitution.