WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal authorities are investigating a massive counterfeit N95 mask operation in which fake 3M masks were sold in at least five states to hospitals, medical institutions and government agencies. Knockoffs abroad are becoming increasingly difficult to identify and could put health workers at serious risk for coronavirus.
These masks give first responders “a false sense of security,” said Steve Francis, deputy director of global trade investigations, with the Department of Homeland Security’s main investigative group. He added: “I have seen many frauds and other illegal activities.”
Officials could not name the states or company involved because of the active investigation.
Almost a year after the pandemic, fraud remains a major problem, as crooks try to exploit hospitals and desperate and tired Americans. Federal investigators say they have seen an increase in fake websites claiming to sell vaccines, as well as counterfeit medicines made abroad and scams involving personal protective equipment. The schemes deliver fake products, unlike previous pandemic fraud, which focused more on fleeing customers.
3M, based in Maplewood, Minnesota, is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of the N95 mask, which has been approved by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and is considered the gold standard in coronavirus protection. The company delivered about 2 billion N95 masks in 2020 as the pandemic grew, but in the previous months of the pandemic, when the masks were small, fraud began to occur.
“They don’t come from authorized distributors,” said Kevin Rhodes, 3M’s vice president and deputy general counsel. “They come from companies that really come into existence.”
They do not come from authorized distributors. They come from companies that are just coming into existence.
–Kevin Rhodes, 3M Vice President and Deputy General Counsel
Rhodes encouraged medical institutions and even workers to seek advice on the company’s website on how to identify counterfeits, namely through defective packaging or trademarks.
“These products are not being tested to see if they meet N95 standards,” he said. “They are not interested in testing them. They are interested in doing as much as possible as cheaply as possible.”
During the pandemic, Homeland Security Investigations used 7,000 agents in tandem with border officials, the Food and Drug Administration and the FBI to investigate scams, confiscate counterfeit products and arrest hundreds of people to help stop fraud. The effort is based on the National Center for the Coordination of Intellectual Property Rights, a government watchdog that seeks to enforce international trade laws and combat intellectual property theft.
There have already been more than 1,250 raids by law enforcement that have led to the confiscation of 10 million counterfeit 3M masks. The company has filed more than a dozen lawsuits for reports of fraud, counterfeiting and price exemption.
There are many other reports of fraudulent masks reaching out to frontline workers.
In the latest issue, internal security investigators have sent a warning email about potential fraud to some states. The email, viewed by The Associated Press, said that the 3M N95 1860 and 1860S mask models could be provided by a company called Q2 Solutions, and the masks could be fraudulent. The masks have a seal that reads “Peru”, which is not used outside of Latin America. The company is headquartered in Miami and has offices in the US and globally. He did not respond to requests for comment.
300,000 counterfeit masks
Washington officials examined the supply of masks, which had come from another company, and found that 300,000 masks they had bought for about $ 1.4 million were counterfeit. Officials are investigating.
Beth Zborowski of the Washington State Hospital Association said the fraud has the potential to affect 1.9 million masks, but most of them are now stored, rather than general circulation.
She said the mask supplier had been checked and the masks had “passed all physical and visual inspection tests”. Zborowski said that for a while, the association could not get the masks directly from 3M, but now the company is accelerating its order after learning about the fraud.
Health workers “have a lot of worries every day. They don’t have to worry if their masks are fake,” she said.
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