WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc said on Friday it is working with state attorneys general to identify and prosecute third-party sellers on its website who are engaged in price-gouging to take advantage of fears of the spreading coronavirus.
In a letter to U.S. Senator Edward Markey, the company said it has removed more than 530,000 product offers over price-gouging concerns as well as “millions” of products that make unsupported claims about their ability to fight coronavirus.
Markey wrote Amazon earlier this week asking the company to stop third-party sellers from ramping up prices for items like Purell hand sanitizer as people seek to protect themselves from the coronavirus.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
