3M is suing an Amazon merchant for selling fake N95 masks under the company’s brand while also charging customers over 20 times the normal price.
The masks were sold via dozens of seller accounts on Amazon.com for $23 to $28 when each N95 respirator usually costs about $1.50. However, customers who bought the products often said they were “ripped off,” receiving fewer masks than ordered, according to 3M’s lawsuit, which was filed on Monday.
The company is suing a California-based merchant named Mao Yu, who allegedly ran several companies to take in about $350,000 through the mask scheme. According to 3M, the masks were also counterfeit, damaged, or deficient in some way, rendering them less effective at protecting wearers’ from COVID-19.
3M filed the lawsuit against the merchant in an effort to stop price-gouging of N95 masks during the pandemic. The company has also partnered with Amazon to identify and shut down fraudulent N95 mask dealers on the e-commerce site.
“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,” Amazon VP Dharmesh Mehta said in a statement.
Amazon has been battling price gouging since February as merchants tried to sell N95 masks, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes at exorbitant prices. On Wednesday, the company told PCMag it has so far removed half a million offers and suspended 6,000 merchant accounts for price-gouging offenses.
“In addition, Amazon has turned over to federal prosecutors and state attorneys general nationwide information about sellers we suspect have engaged in egregious price gouging of products related to the COVID-19 crisis,” the company wrote in a blog post last month urging Congress to pass a federal price gouging law. (Currently, only 36 states have specific regulations against price gouging during times of emergency.)
As for 3M, the company is encouraging customers to contact the company about any fraud or price gouging involving its brand or products.
3M is suing Yu for damages on charges of trademark infringement, counterfeiting, false advertising, and for breaking California’s unfair competition law. “3M will donate any damages recovered to COVID-19-related nonprofit organizations,” the company said.
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