3M Sues Seller on Amazon Who Charged Grossly Inflated Prices for Fake, Defective & Damaged N95 Respirators Falsely Advertised...
June 08 2020 - 2:56PM
Business Wire
A new California lawsuit is part of 3M’s global effort to
combat fraud and price gouging and help protect the public against
those exploiting the demand for critical products during the
pandemic.
3M filed a legal action today in federal court in California,
asserting that a seller on Amazon defrauded its customers by
charging grossly inflated prices for fake, defective, and damaged
respirator products. The lawsuit alleges that Mao Yu and his
affiliated companies falsely advertised as third-party sellers on
Amazon under the 3M brand. The defendants, according to 3M’s
complaint, charged unsuspecting customers more than $350,000 when
the customers responded to false listings that claimed to be
reselling authentic N95 respirators, while actually selling damaged
and fake goods at highly-inflated prices.
3M alleges that the defendants charged prices for the fraudulent
respirators that exceeded as much as 20 times 3M’s N95 respirator
list prices. Amazon learned that the defendants misrepresented what
would be delivered for these exorbitant prices, and that buyers had
received non-3M respirators, fewer items than purchased, products
in suspect packaging, and defective or damaged items. Amazon has
blocked the accounts on its platform.
The complaint seeks both monetary damages and injunctive relief
to require the defendants to cease their unlawful activities. 3M
will donate any damages recovered to COVID-19-related nonprofit
organizations.
“3M customers deserve authentic products at fair prices, and
this scam is aimed at exploiting the demand for our critical
products during the pandemic using 3M’s name connected with price
gouging and counterfeiting,” said Denise Rutherford, 3M Senior Vice
President, Corporate Affairs. “Our collaboration with Amazon is one
of the important ways we are working to prevent and combat fraud,
and we will report this unlawful activity to law enforcement, as
well.”
“There is no place for counterfeiting or price gouging on Amazon
and we’re proud to be working with 3M to hold these bad actors
accountable,” said Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon Vice President, Customer
Trust and Partner Support. “Amazon has long-standing policies
against counterfeiting and price gouging and processes in place to
proactively block suspicious products and egregious prices. When we
find a bad actor violating our policies, we work quickly to remove
the products and take action on the bad actor, as we’ve done here,
and we welcome collaboration from brands like 3M.”
3M has not changed the prices it charges for respirators as a
result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Including this legal action 3M has
filed more than a dozen lawsuits in its fight against fraud, price
gouging and counterfeiting. 3M has won five temporary restraining
orders and four preliminary injunction orders from courts across
the country that put a stop to other defendants’ unlawful and
unethical profiteering from the pandemic.
To date, 3M has successfully secured the removal of more than
3000 websites with fraudulent or counterfeit product offerings from
e-commerce platforms around the world, more than 4000 false or
deceptive social media posts, and more than 100 deceptive internet
addresses.
3M has deployed its internal and external litigation team in its
efforts to combat fraud. In this case, 3M is represented by Kevin
Mayer and Andrea D’Ambra of Norton Rose Fulbright, and Christopher
Weimer of Pirkey Barber.
Resources to fight fraud
3M has created a hotline to call for information on how to help
identify authentic 3M products and to ensure products are from 3M
authorized distributors. That number, in the U.S. and Canada, is
(800) 426-8688.
If customers have concerns about potentially fraudulent
activity, price gouging, or counterfeit 3M products, they can
report their concerns at 3M’s website.
About 3M
At 3M, we apply science in collaborative ways to improve lives
daily. With $32 billion in sales, our 96,000 employees connect with
customers all around the world. Learn more about 3M’s creative
solutions to the world’s problems at www.3M.com or on Twitter @3M
or @3MNews.
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3M Contact: Jennifer Ehrlich 651-736-9430
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