Attorney General Ashley Moody on Tuesday activated Florida’s Price Gouging Hotline for all consumers in the state in response to Governor Ron DeSantis declaring a state of emergency on in response to the coronavirus outbreak in Florida.

“We are monitoring the COVID-19 situation in Florida very closely and following the Governor’s state of emergency declaration, our price gouging laws are now in effect,” Moody said in a press release. “I have a rapid response team ready to immediately respond to allegations of price gouging and our Consumer Protection Division continues to look for scams by fraudsters who would use this situation to rip-off Floridians.”

“Be on the lookout for scams and guard against gouging, but remember, the best thing you can do right now is heed the advice of health experts—wash hands regularly and stay home if you are ill.”

In response to @GovRonDeSantis state of emergency declaration, I have activated Florida’s Price Gouging Hotline.

Please report price gouging and COVID-19 related scams to our office, and heed the advice of health professionals.https://t.co/SQxJsDchac pic.twitter.com/463OfcVyDF

— AG Ashley Moody (@AGAshleyMoody) March 10, 2020

Commodities protected by the state’s price gouging law include:

• Masks used to protect you from others if you are sick.
• Sanitizing and disinfecting supplies, such as hand sanitizer, gel, wipes, cleaning supplies for surface cleaning.
• All commercial cleaning supplies

Today’s activation comes one day after DeSantis held a press conference, declaring a state of emergency that increases his powers to properly respond to the novel virus.

The executive order issued on Monday will allow Desantis to deploy National Guard troops if necessary and will allow the state to quickly order supplies if they are needed.

DeSantis executive order comes as the total number of presumptive positive cases of coronavirus for Florida reached 14, with 115 pending test results.

Price gouging can be reported by calling 1(866) 9NO-SCAM or by visiting MyFloridaLegal.com.