According to State Attorney General Ashley Moody, Florida is number one in the nation for fraud. And that includes price gouging.
It can present in a number of different ways, whether it's when you are trying to buy lumber to board up your windows when a hurricane's bearing down, or whether you find you're paying much more at the pump for gasoline than you usually pay.
Moody said authorities determine whether price gouging is being committed by looking at the average price over 30 days for specific products prior to a state of emergency declaration by the governor.
This hurricane season, the state attorney general said she is trying to help consumers help law enforcement catch people who are price gouging, with a new app. It's called, No Scam.
With the 2019 Hurricane Season underway, our office today launched the NO SCAM price gouging app to help consumers quickly and effectively report unlawful price increases during a declared state of emergency. https://t.co/CBfhGjbNji pic.twitter.com/IThWFBA558— Fla. AG Ashley Moody (@AGAshleyMoody) June 3, 2019
Clearwater Police Chief Daniel Slaughter said in the past, in the midst of an emergency, it hasn't always been easy to report price gouging. Either in person, or over a hotline.
"This app, if you download it today as part of your regular hurricane preparation, will allow you to give that information, collect it immediately on-scene, and archive it and save it, so that we can take appropriate action from that information," Slaughter said.
And that way, Attorney General Moody said, they can prevent others from being victimized.
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