BOISE, ID — Attorney General Raúl Labrador announced that his Consumer Protection Division (CPD)  returned a record amount to Idaho consumers through voluntary dispute resolution, without the need for lawsuits or court orders in the first six month of 2026. After Labrador reorganized the division in mid-2025 to strengthen investigations and consumer outreach, CPD mediations returned more than $1.1 million to Idaho consumers by the end of 2025.

This year is already on pace to exceed that total, with more than $956,000 returned to consumers through the end of June 2026. The last eighteen months have returned more money to Idaho consumers through voluntary mediation than all previous years combined since the Office began tracking these numbers in 2017. The division also brought 49 consumer protection enforcement cases in 2025, compared to 8 in 2023 and 17 in 2024, a 600 percent increase.

“My Consumer Protection Division is making a real difference for Idaho families and honest businesses,” said Attorney General Labrador. “These numbers show what this office was built to do: hold bad actors accountable and give Idahoans a fair shot at resolving disputes without the cost and delay of a courtroom. I’m proud of this team, and we will keep fighting for every Idaho consumer and good-faith business in the marketplace.”

The Consumer Protection Division receives complaints of every size involving fraud and marketplace deception, from contractor fraud worth tens of thousands of dollars to reports of misleading advertising. A team of three investigators, three attorneys, and support staff handles more than 2,000 complaints a year, submitted by phone, mail, online, and through the newly launched ReportScamsIdaho.com.

Voluntary mediation resolves disputes without a formal finding that the law was broken. It gives consumers and businesses a chance to compare facts, communicate directly, and reach a solution that preserves the marketplace relationship between them.

When a business’s conduct rises to a violation of the Idaho Consumer Protection Act, the Attorney General pursues formal enforcement, which can result in court judgments, penalties, and Assurances of Voluntary Compliance requiring businesses to correct their practices. The division also litigates multistate cases and class actions, including settlements involving tobacco, opioid manufacturers, and pharmaceutical price-fixing.