570.140. Deceptive business practice — penalty.
Tricking customers in business is a crime
If someone runs a business and uses dishonest tactics like false weights, wrong amounts, or misleading ads, they can be charged with a crime.
1. A person commits deceptive business practice if they recklessly do any of the following while doing business:
- Use or own fake scales, measuring tools, or devices to trick people about quantity or quality,
- Sell or offer less than the amount promised,
- As a buyer, try to take more than promised when using their own scale,
- Sell or offer goods that are fake, tampered with, or wrongly labeled,
- Make a false or misleading written statement to get money or credit,
- Use false or misleading ads to promote goods or services, or
- Advertise products or services with no real intention of:
- Selling them at the listed price,
- Having enough to meet normal demand (unless a limit is stated), or
- Selling them at all.
2. This crime is a class A misdemeanor.
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