(WFSB) – If you’re looking to buy a COVID test, be prepared for price gouging.
Test kits are in demand and scammers are ready to rip you off.
The average cost for a COVID test kit is between $20 and $30.
If you suspect someone is trying to take advantage, you need to make a complaint.
While more test kits are available, they can still be hard to find.
Scammers know that.
“It’s never okay to take advantage of your community and your customers and your neighbors. It’s illegal to try and take advantage of people during an emergency,” said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong.
Tong has received 800 complaints.
While he can investigate those complaints, it’s at the retail level, which means if a wholesaler is the culprit there isn’t much he can do.
A law which passed the house last year would have allowed the attorney general to go after wholesalers, but the bill never made it to the senate.
Senator Richard Blumenthal supports the legislation and tougher penalties.
He recently got a complaint from a 70-year-old man in Shelton who was charged $60.
“A crime is being committed on you by people who are price gouging at the expense of everyday Americans,” Blumenthal said.
If you suspect price gouging you need to contact the attorney general.
CVS and other pharmacies are good places to buy test kits, but you should be weary of online sites. Some of what is being sold is bootleg.
“We are all trying to struggle to stay safe, they want you to safe, people are losing their jobs, so it’s sad,” said Luz Amaro of Windsor.
“Especially the older people too because they really try to take advantage of those more yeah,” said Flora Estevez of East Hartford.
The federal government is now giving free COVID test kits here.
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