Measure filed in House to address internet fraud

Rep. Edgar Robles Rivera

By The Star Staff

District 14 (Arecibo and Hatillo) Rep. Edgar Robles Rivera introduced legislation (House Resolution 289) on Monday that directs the House Consumer Affairs Committee to conduct a comprehensive investigation “into the growing practices of merchants and sellers who advertise goods or services without including the price of the goods.”

The inquiry covers both face-to-face sales and those made through various digital platforms.

“Today thousands of people enter social networks to look for a car, a house or even food, and the price does not appear anywhere,” the lawmaker said. “They have hidden prices!”

“So, [consumers] are forced to write, call or send text messages to find out how much the merchandise they want to buy costs …” Robles Rivera said in a written statement. “The practice is seen daily in dealerships, property classifieds, restaurants, bars and in many Internet publications. That must be stopped!”

The measure seeks to address “the trend that affects, daily, thousands of consumers throughout Puerto Rico.”

“In the case of vehicle dealerships, publications have been identified in which cars are presented without indicating the price or the real conditions of sale, which could become a misleading sale,” the legislator said. “They force people to go to the … vehicle dealerships to ‘orient’ them, which often means fooling them.”