The European Commission announced on Thursday 30 April that the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network will be launching a coordinated operation to tackle scams and unfair commercial practices on digital platforms. The aim is to protect consumers from unscrupulous traders taking advantage of the Covid-19 crisis to con them or to make money from them by charging excessive prices.
The sweep will be carried out on two levels: a general investigation of the platforms linked to the most common consumer scams, outlined in the CPC common position on rogue traders during the Covid-19 pandemic, and an in-depth screening of certain offers and advertisements to check in more detail traders’ offers and advertising linked to products that are in high demand due to the pandemic (see EUROPE 12467/14).
National authorities will check whether these products are being advertised with explicit - or even implicit - unproven claims, for example, and whether offers are presented in such a way as to put pressure on consumers to buy.
“This should help us identify misleading content in breach of EU consumer rules and lead to its removal”, said EU Commissioner Didier Reynders.
As this sweep is part of confidential national surveys, only aggregate results will be published once the surveys are completed. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)