Surge in fake products scams during COVID-19, authorities warn public

As the world grapples with the Coronavirus pandemic, people across several countries have been facing shortages of medical supplies, protective gear such as masks, and other essentials due to the global lockdown. Stores are running out of stock of masks and other protective gear due to obstructions in transportation and production. This has led to an increase in desperation of buyers for essential commodities.

Amid this crisis, several reports of fraud and scams related to medical and other essentials have come to light in the past few weeks. According to media reports, since the lockdown has been imposed in the United Kingdom, hundreds of frauds have been investigated by trading standards officers who have recovered over 500,000 unusable face masks, numerous illegal hand sanitizers, and fake COVID-19 testing kits. Police have asserted that these fraudsters make use of public fear and try to mug them by selling fake supplies. Complaints of such scams have increased manifold in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Furthermore, a few complaints have been filed against fraudsters posing as government officials and scamming people working from home by offering 'special COVID-19 loans or grants' to them. Hundreds of fraudulent websites have been busted for selling testing kits, face masks, sanitizers, and even fake vaccines in an attempt to trick innocent visitors into revealing their payment information to criminals.

The Better Business Bureau has recorded a surge in scams of face masks, gloves, and even pets during the lockdown. According to BBB, a number of fake organizations working online have come up with test kits, masks, and other necessary items needed during the pandemic. They dupe the buyers with inexpensive prices with no intention of delivering the products after the buyers purchase them. And not just through websites, local citizens and pharmacies have also tried to trick consumers into buying fake and illegal products. A 46-year-old pharmacist was arrested by the police from Croydon, south London in April after he tried to sell coronavirus testing kits to his buyers.

In the aftermath of such incidents, the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK has advised consumers and businesses to be on the lookout for such scammers trying to make money out of their vulnerability due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Similarly, authorities and manufacturers in the United States have also warned of cases of scam in the face mask industry, which is currently on the rise due to surge in demand.