Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody warned businesses who want to price gouge families trying to prepare for Hurricane Dorian that they will be tracked down and could face prosecution.
"We are encouraging Floridians to be safe and to take precautions to protect their families and property," Moody told Fox News' "Outnumbered Overtime." "We advise they have seven days of food, medicine, and water."
But often, when there is an emergency situation and chaos as people try to secure necessary supplies, "we have those bad actors that take advantage of a really horrible situation," said Moody.
"That means they will hike up the prices as people are trying to get these essential commodities," said Moody. "As attorney general, I am working across the state to make sure those affected, and right now we have a declared state of emergency in every county in Florida, so Floridians can report to us when they are seeing this."
She encouraged anyone who feels they've been taken advantage of to call 1-866-9-NOSCAM (1-866-966-7226) and report the situation. The attorney general's office also is offering an app, called NO SCAM, where people can send in prices and pictures of their receipts, as well as list their concerns and complaints, said Moody. The app is available for both Apple and Android devices.
"As we are getting that information, we have a rapid response team in the field responding and trying to proactively talk to these businesses and organizations to get them to lower the prices, if, in fact, they are trying to take advantage of a situation," said Moody. "I want to stress that we will go after these bad actors."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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