At a time when we're all struggling, especially the poor, we hear from top Maine officials that organized crime rings are trying to sell damaged, and possibly dangerous, personal-care products online.

It's a disgusting practice that should be stopped immediately.

Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe and Dr. Dora Anne Mills, who directs the Maine Center for Disease Control, issued a statement earlier this week that infant formula, diabetes test strips and other products are being sold online at discount prices.

That part sounds good.

Many of these products, however, are stored in unsanitary warehouses and may not be safe, they warned.

It's a type of retail crime that involves stolen goods. With hot products in hand, these criminals change dates on expired products or paste on new labels to make you think you're getting a more expensive product.

In many cases, it's just too good to be true.

There is a reason why baby formula is being sold on online auction sites at 60 percent of retail value.

"Maybe it's because a parent no longer needs the product, but maybe it's because the product has been stolen and not properly maintained," Mills said. "Some of these transactions may be perfectly safe, but the worst-case scenario is a mother feeding her baby tainted infant formula or a person with diabetes becoming ill because the test strips he's using are no longer working properly."

And, if the potential for making people sick isn't bad enough, products stolen from retailers force legitimate businessmen and women to increase their prices to cover the loss.

The National Retail Federation estimates that as much as 40 percent of the items sold online through auction sites could be stolen goods from retail locations. Retailers lose more than $30 billion annually to theft.

It's time for Maine leaders to take a hard stand against these thieves, who not only pawn off expired goods that probably don't work, but cost us all more money in the long run.

As you might expect, the Maine Merchants Association urges consumers to know who's selling the products. That doesn't mean you can't buy online. It just means you'd be safer sticking with the online version of a storefront or catalog business, they recommend.

The good news?

Rowe formed a task force in October to address the issue in Maine. Let's hope the new attorney general chosen by the Legislature next week shares Rowe's interest in cracking down on these rip-off artists.