3M (St. Paul, Minn.) filed a lawsuit against a seller on Amazon it alleges defrauded customers by selling fake, defective and damaged N95 respirators at “grossly inflated prices.”
3M also alleges the seller, Mao Yu and affiliated companies, falsely advertised under the 3M brand.
The lawsuit alleges the seller inflated prices by as much as 20 times 3M’s N95 respirator prices. The seller’s accounts have since been blocked by Amazon.
Sales of N95 respirators have come under scrutiny since shortages were spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. 3M stated it has not changed its prices for respirators as a result of the pandemic.
“Including this legal action, 3M has filed more than a dozen lawsuits in its fight against fraud, price gouging and counterfeiting,” the company stated.
The company has established a hotline for information on identifying authentic 3M products and distributors. The hotline number is (800) 426-8688.
