One Year Anniversary of Price Gouging App

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—One year ago today, Attorney General Ashley Moody launched the No Scam app as another avenue for consumers to quickly and effectively report price gouging during a declared state of emergency. Through the app, the first of its kind, consumers can report allegations of price gouging in real time directly to Attorney General Moody’s Office. The app also allows consumers to attach pictures and copies of receipts more directly from smartphones when reporting suspected price gouging.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Florida is facing an unprecedented time as we simultaneously continue to fight the spread of COVID-19 and enter into what may be a very active hurricane season. Many Floridians may experience additional, unforeseen stress and devastation as a result of factors beyond their control, but price gouging should not be one of them. Since its inception, No Scam has helped thousands of consumers report outrageous price increases during declared states of emergency. I urge all Floridians to download No Scam now as they prepare for hurricane season.”

With nearly 18,000 downloads, the innovative No Scam app has assisted consumer protection investigators with Attorney General Moody’s Office with more than 2,000 reports of suspected price gouging and helped increase awareness about Florida’s price gouging law. No Scam is quickly becoming a deterrent to those considering violating the law as it continues to be downloaded and used daily by Floridians, who with the app, are now able to report suspected price gouging right from the palm of their hand.

While the app was originally designed to collect price gouging complaints associated with hurricanes, Attorney General Moody quickly updated No Scam to allow users to report suspected COVID-19 price gouging incidents after a health and safety state of emergency was issued earlier this year. Consumers should know that the statewide COVID-19 emergency declaration is still in effect—and price gouging on essential commodities related to COVID-19 remains illegal.

For more information on the COVID-19 state of emergency, click here.

Attorney General Moody’s No Scam Price Gouging App is available in English and, now in time for hurricane season, Spanish. The app can be downloaded for free through Apple and Android stores by searching No Scam. To download the Spanish No Scam app, users should have the home language set to Spanish on cellular devices. No Scam delivers a user-friendly method for consumers to provide information that is often essential in proving and stopping price gouging.

The app permits users in real time to:

• • • Send pictures of prices on signs, online posts and products;
    • Capture and report receipts and email confirmations;
    • Write narratives of interactions with sellers and prices observed of essential commodities;
    • Report prices of identical products offered by different sellers in the same vicinity; and
    • Capture any additional supporting documentation.

For tips on how to better report price gouging, read Tips for Avoiding Price Gouging and Gathering Gouging Evidence.

Under Florida’s price gouging statute, F.S. 501.160, it is unlawful during a declared state of emergency to sell, lease, offer to sell, or offer for lease essential commodities, dwelling units, or self-storage facilities for an amount that grossly exceeds the average price for that commodity during the 30 days before the declaration of the state of emergency, unless the seller can justify the pricing by showing increased costs or changed market conditions resulting in increased costs.

For more information about price gouging, click here.

Earlier this week, Attorney General Moody released the 2020 Hurricane Preparedness Guide. For more information and a link to download the guide, click here.