Future Minnesota victims of fraud will soon have an option to get their money back through a new restitution fund.

The fraud restitution bill was tucked inside the final tax bill approved by the Senate on Monday.

The fund will be made up of money won back in fraud settlements by the attorney general.

The bill requires 50% of all money recovered in a consumer enforcement action to be deposited in the restitution account instead of the state’s general fund.

If it’s a phone call or a text, scams come in different shapes and sizes, but the burn feels the same.

“We are all out there in a new land of scam,” Helene Johnson, victim of fraud, said. “That is really horrible. People are living paycheck to paycheck these days.”

Fraud affected Johnson at Woodbury Dental Arts.

She is one of many victims who paid up front for dental implants before the practice abruptly closed its doors.

Johnson said she paid $15,000 and never got a refund for her unfinished treatment.

“It’s not just giving them some financial security back. It’s also regaining their dignity,” said Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope.

State lawmakers teamed up with AARP and introduced a fraud restitution bill to protect future victims of fraud. 

The fines paid by fraudsters would make up the fund that’s capped at $5 million per year, and the Attorney General’s Office will administer the funds through an application process.

“There will be a reporting system that the attorney general sets up and to make it public and transparent, while at the same time protecting the privacy of the victims,” Rest said. “This is a start, and in some years, it may be the case that there isn’t $5 million, there might not even be a couple hundred thousand in any given case that has been adjudicated.”

Johnson testified at a Senate hearing to push for the bill to be passed.

She calls it a step in the right direction.

“It makes me proud, and even though I don’t get any money from it, I feel like I have contributed to the future,” Johnson said.

Lawmakers said only victims of fraud who were impacted after the fund is launched will be able to apply. The plan is to open that account in January 2026.