Florida - Tuesday January 9, 2024: Attorney General Ashley Moody has activated Florida’s Price Gouging Hotline due to a state of emergency declaration for severe weather impacting the state.
The Price Gouging Hotline is now available to receive reports of extreme price increases on essential commodities. Florida’s price gouging law only applies to items and services essential to getting ready for, or recovering from, a storm within the areas of a declared state of emergency.
During a storm-related declared state of emergency, state law prohibits excessive increases in the price of essential commodities, such as equipment, food, gasoline, hotel rooms, ice, lumber and water needed as a direct result of the event.
Anyone who suspects price gouging can report it to the Florida Attorney General’s Office by using the NO SCAM app, visiting MyFloridaLegal.com or calling 1(866) 9NO-SCAM. The Attorney General’s NO SCAM app can be downloaded for free on the Apple and Android app stores by searching NO SCAM.
The order follows Governor Ron DeSantis’s state of emergency declaration covering Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Seminole, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton and Washington counties.
“I have activated our price gouging hotline to take complaints about extreme price increases on commodities needed to recover following the severe weather impacting the state," said Attorney General Ashley Moody. "Please report price gouging to my office by calling 1(866) 9NO-SCAM, visiting MyFloridaLegal.com, or downloading our app—NO SCAM.”
For more information on price gouging, access Attorney General Moody’s Scams at a Glance: Price Gouging resource by clicking here.
To download Scams at a Glance: Price Gouging in Spanish, click here.
After a storm strikes, recovery can be a grueling process that scammers may attempt to exploit. To avoid falling victim to scams that may occur in the aftermath of a storm, view the Attorney General’s Scams at a Glance: After the Storm. To download the resource in English, click here. To download the Spanish version, click here.
Violators of the price gouging statute are subject to civil penalties of $1,000 per violation and up to a total of $25,000 for multiple violations committed in a single 24-hour period.