Scammers during COVID

Scammers during COVID

News now.

>> we tend to see the best and the worst come out during a crisis, and the government is prepared to smoke out the crooks opportunisopportunists preying .

Thank you for joining us and congratulations on your new post in the midst of a pandemic.

>> thank you so much.

And i appreciate the congratulations.

It has been an exciting couple of weeks, getting acclimated to the office and learning the new aspects, but thank you so much.

It's a true honor.

>> are you the only one in the office right now?

>> there's only one person.

That's right.

>> tell us about the task force that has been created and what's it called?

>> it's being called the covid-19 task force and this is from the department of justice, attorney general barr in dc.

And a couple of things, the nation is suffering from a huge pandemic, and the state is, and unfortunately during these types of times that are hard on people, you see people that want to take advantage of americans and south carolinaans, and we put this task tack together to show s south carolinians that no matter what is going on, this is not going to be tolerated in our state.

So you're looking out for a couple of things, price gouging scenarios, and scam scenarios, and you're looking at for folks holding the necessary medical equipment in the hospitals.

>> it sounds criminal to me of course, and can you tell us about any of the scams?

Anything in particular that affects the average citizen?

>> a lot of us are in homes so we spend a lot of time on social media.

So these folks are really preying on folks it's using common sense, an email to people who don't know and don't open them.

>> absolutely, and let's talk about the price gouging.

Folks are going into the stores and trying to get their essentials and they want to stock their homes, but people are using this as an opportunity.

We have seen it before with price gouging at the pump and things like that.

So how do you control something like that?

How do you prosecute a price gouging scenario?

>> well, there are different places and that's a great question right now.

We're asking anybody who has been solicited online or has a price gowning scenario, or somebody who is hoarding desperately needed medical equipment.

They're compiling the information, and all of the united states attorneys, and all of the federalel law enforcement agencies have access to this.

So this information will come to us and we'll get involved.

But the task force that we just implemented in the state right now is just so crucial, because we're working not only with local law enforcement, but with federal law enforcement and the local attorney general's office as well as.

So getting together to protect the citizens of south carolina.

>> again, for anybody who wants more information on if they are scammed or see anybody else being scammed, where do they go?

>> you want to report this to the center for disaster funds.

The number to call is very easy.

Toll-free (866) 720-5721.

Report that information immediately, because it then gets turned over to federal law enforcement and local law enforcement.

And then in turn to the united states attorney's office so we can look at it and let these folks know we're not going to tolerate this type of behavior.

>> terrific, peter, thank you so much, and i know you have your hands full.

>> stay safe, and i appreciate you getting this information out for us.

>>