The European Commission and the EU Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) network launched joint actions on Thursday 19 March to combat fake online sales or scams related to Covid-19.
EU consumer protection authorities will publish a guide "in the coming days", to help better identify these problematic practices, the Commission said in a press release.
These "guidelines will help coordinate the action of all national authorities, merchants and platforms and advise national authorities on how to quickly eradicate false allegations".
Since the beginning of the crisis, "there has been an increase in the number of dishonest traders selling fake products online that are supposed to prevent or cure the new virus. These false claims relate to a number of products such as masks, caps and hand sanitizers", says the Commission.
"These traders are exploiting the current situation to sell their products at very high prices by claiming, for example, that stocks are falling and thus misleading European consumers". This joint action by the national authorities is inspired by an initial action launched by the Italian authority. The various authorities will now "actively share information" and ensure a "consistent approach to combating these practices and ensuring that consumers are not misled by dishonest traders".
"Some platforms, such as Amazon and Facebook, have voluntarily taken action against this marketing. Consumer organisations are stepping up their work. This is all going in the right direction. I call on all actors, including online marketplaces and media hosting platforms, to continue to help us fight against this predatory behaviour", was the response of Didier Reynders, Commissioner responsible for this dossier, who called on Member States to take swift action and on all online platforms to "step up their efforts to detect and eliminate false reporting rapidly". (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)