$10 toilet paper? Coronavirus gouging complaints surge in US
This combination of March 11, 2020 photos made by investigators with the Michigan Attorney General's Office shows a $4.47 shelf price sticker for a gallon of Clorox bleach and $8.99 on a price scanner for the same item at a Menards store in Jackson, Mich. (Michigan Attorney General's Office via AP)

price gouging AP
Authorities are receiving a surge of price gouging reports.

One store advertised hand sanitizer at $60 a bottle. Another was accused of hawking it at $1 a squirt. Chain stores were accused of selling $26 thermometers and face masks at the “everyday low price” of $39.95 a pair, while a convenience store offered toilet paper at $10 a roll next to a sign reading: “This is not a joke.”

Across a country where lines are long, some shelves are empty and patience thin, authorities are receiving a surge of reports about people trying to cash in on the coronavirus crisis with outrageous prices, phony cures and other scams. An Associated Press survey of state attorneys general or consumer protection agencies across the country found the number exceeded 5,000, with hundreds more coming in every day.

Associated Press



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