3M Announces Further Actions to Address Price Gouging, Fraud and Counterfeit Activity in connection with COVID-19 Outbreak
March 31 2020 - 3:27PM
Business Wire
Company will aggressively pursue those who seek
to take advantage of the crisis
3M is committed to combating price gouging, fraud and
counterfeit activity in connection with its products and the
COVID-19 outbreak.
3M has received reports of people fraudulently representing
themselves as being affiliated with 3M, selling 3M products at
grossly inflated prices, selling counterfeit products falsely
claimed to be from 3M and falsely claiming to manufacture 3M
products.
“3M is working to protect the public from counterfeiting and
price-gouging on critical healthcare supplies, including the
respirators and masks that are essential to our country’s
healthcare personnel,” said Mike Roman, 3M chairman of the board
and chief executive officer. “3M will take decisive action against
those seeking to take illegal and unethical advantage of the
COVID-19 outbreak. We are working with law enforcement authorities
around the world on this matter, including federal, state, and
local authorities in the U.S.”
3M is also working with large e-marketplace operators on a
coordinated plan to identify and remove counterfeiters and
price-gougers from their sites and refer them to the appropriate
law enforcement authorities.
Resources to fight fraud
3M has created a new 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.
3M respirators
3M respirators are in high demand around the globe as healthcare
workers continue to fight the COVID-19 outbreak. Since the outbreak
began, 3M has doubled its global output of N95 respirators to an
annual rate of over 1.1 billion, or nearly 100 million per
month.
3M has not changed the prices we charge for 3M respirators as a
result of the COVID-19 outbreak. We have been and will continue to
work actively to eliminate price gouging by resellers of 3M
respirators.
To help customers identify and avoid inflated prices, 3M has
published current single-case list prices for many of the most
common 3M N95 respirator models sold in the U.S. on our website.
Actual prices may vary, but customers should be suspicious of
resellers quoting prices significantly above those listed.
Avoiding counterfeit products
To avoid counterfeit 3M respirators, users should only buy
respirators in 3M packaging with model-specific user instructions
accompanying the product. 3M respirators should not be sold
individually or without packaging and user instructions. Products
that have missing straps, strange odors, blocked valves, or
misspelled words are likely not authentic 3M respirators.
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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Tim Post (651) 733-9789 Tpost3@mmm.com
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