State Attorney General Working With Major Retailers to Fight Price Gouging and Scams

Attorney General Chris Carr is stepping up the fight to rid the marketplace of price gougers and scammers by partnering with members of the Georgia and national business communities.

This list of partners includes Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Facebook, Chevron, Publix, the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores, the Georgia Retailers, the Georgia Food Industry Association and the Better Business Bureau, and it continues to grow.

Carr said by establishing lines of communication with the business community specific to this crisis, the Consumer Protection Division is able to more effectively identify and combat price gouging and scams.

The companies named above, as well as others, continue to provide information to the Attorney General’s office about their efforts to combat scams and price gouging.

Additionally, all have put in place procedures for remediating complaints.

Carr said if his office receives a complaint concerning activity on one of their partner organization’s platforms or at one of their establishments, the Attorney General office will let the retailer know and begin a dialogue about how best to address the complaint.

Carr is asking more businesses to contact his office if they would like to get involved in the fight against price gougers and scammers.

Currently, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division (CPD) is reviewing 194 complaints.

He said most complaints are regarding price gouging for items such as:

Food
Toilet Paper
Water
Hand Sanitizer/Disinfectants

CPD has received complaints concerning online sales and sales in brick-and-mortar stores. To file a complaint with our office:

CALL: 404-651-8600 inside the metro Atlanta area
CALL: 1-800-869-1123 toll-free outside of the metro Atlanta calling area
VISIT: consumer.ga.gov
CPD also works with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to protect consumers from frauds and scams:

For BBB’s information on the coronavirus, https://www.bbb.org/council/coronavirus/
For small businesses needing assistance, https://www.bbb.org/smallbusiness