More than 11 million counterfeits N95 masks In recent weeks, five states have been seized by the Department of Homeland Security, and authorities say suspected victims of the scam include hospitals and medical facilities in at least 12 states.
That total includes 1 million fake masks seized from a warehouse in Western Maryland today, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Wednesday.
An initial criminal investigation found that China was the source of the fake masks Allegedly made by US manufacturer 3M, said Steve Francis, director of the Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, which is led by the Homeland Security Investigations investigation division of immigration and customs enforcement.
“They are extremely dangerous,” Francis told reporters. “They give a false sense of security to our frontline responders, to US consumers. I cannot stress enough the importance of making sure we have the legitimate 3M N95 masks in place for our emergency responders.”
Mayorkas, calling the counterfeit respiratory masks “of no use,” said a health worker who uses one around a patient becomes a danger to others. “Not only do they give a false sense of security, but how dangerous is the exposed person?” Mayorkas posed for reporters who gathered at his inaugural press conference as the leader of the Department of Homeland Security. “How dangerous is the individual who is faced with a possible COVID-19 infection without any protective equipment?”
DHS has notified about 6,000 suspected victims of the mass scam and advised them to check their supplies for counterfeit N95 masks.
On Feb. 10, the division’s investigation arm seized more than $ 33 million in illegal proceeds COVID-19-related fraud. Officials have arrested 227 people, served 222 criminal search warrants and opened 862 investigations as part of an ongoing investigation into health care fraud launched in April 2020 and dubbed by the agency “Operation Stolen Promise.” In addition, more than 1,800 shipments of mislabeled, fraudulent, unauthorized, or banned test kits or PPE have been seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
According to the Washington State Hospital Association, as many as 2 million counterfeit 3M masks worth $ 8 million have been found in about 40 hospitals in Washington State alone. “These masks had proper paperwork and passed physical inspection and testing,” said Cassie Sauer, president and CEO of the association. “These N95s are precious resources we need to protect personnel. It is reprehensible that counterfeiters are selling counterfeit goods.”
Illegal masks were also found at the Cleveland Clinic this month. Ohio’s prominent medical center found that some of its inventory dating back to November contained fraudulently labeled N95 gas masks purchased through a third-party seller. In a statement to CBS News, Cleveland Clinic said it had “taken immediate action to remove these masks from our locations and replace them with approved supplies” following an internal investigation.
In a statement to CBS News this month, the Minnesota Department of Health said it prevented “500,000 counterfeit N95 respirators from being distributed to Minnesota health facilities,” noting that the half million counterfeit masks – worth $ 2.1 million – would be turned over to 3M for destruction.
As the pandemic drones progressed, Mayorkas advised scammers to continue exploiting desperate Americans, hospitals and medical providers “for a quick buck.” Federal investigators point to an increase in counterfeit drugs and fake websites claiming to sell vaccines.
“We’ve seen the whole spectrum,” said HSI Acting Executive Associate Director PJ Lechleitner Wednesday. “People are trying to hunt individuals. We’ve seen that turn into fraudulent vaccines. So any avenue where the criminal companies see a gateway to make some money or defraud individuals, we see it.”
Acting Director of ICE Tae Johnson told reporters that the first clues to Wednesday’s seizure of fake masks came from 3M. “We walked down a bit and followed that to its conclusion,” Johnson said, adding that officials believe operations to stop the massive fake mask scam will spread to more states in the coming weeks. “Our work is still ongoing. We have been investigating ‘stolen promises’ since April. So our work continues.”