Florida Attorney General Recovers More Than $1 Million From COVID-19 Scams, Purchases

September 4, 2020

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has announced that her office has recovered more than $1 million in recoveries from COVID-19 related purchases, cancellations and scams.

Florida remains under a state of emergency due to the spread of the novel coronavirus and the state’s Price Gouging Hotline remains active for consumers to file complaints related to price increases on essential commodities needed to help prevent the spread of the virus.

In addition to securing more than $1 million for consumers since activating Florida’s Price Gouging Hotline, the Florida Attorney General’s Office:

  • Received approximately 5,100 consumer contacts about the price of essential commodities;
  • Made more than 9,500 referrals and contacts to merchants about allegations of price gouging, refunds and scams;
  • Issued 92 subpoenas to further price gouging investigations; and
  • Worked with online platforms to deactivate 250 posts offering items for outrageous prices.

Violators of the price gouging statute are subject to civil penalties of $1,000 per violation, up to a total of $25,000 for multiple violations committed in a single 24-hour period and additional penalties for violations of other applicable laws.

For a list of the commodities covered under the state’s price gouging laws during the COVID-19 state of emergency, click here.

Price gouging can be reported by calling 1(866) 9NO-SCAM or visiting MyFloridaLegal.com.

“While I am extraordinarily proud of our Rapid Response Team recovering more than $1 million for consumers, our efforts are far from over. We continue to pursue allegations of extreme price increases and other COVID-19 related scams and unfair business practices, and I remain committed to doing everything under the authority of this office to stop those trying to exploit this crisis by taking advantage of Floridians,” Moody said.

Comments

One Response to “Florida Attorney General Recovers More Than $1 Million From COVID-19 Scams, Purchases”

  1. Mark on September 4th, 2020 8:27 pm

    This country is crazy

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News