The Interpol has uncovered a global trend of online scams related to supply of medical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and masks and sale of spurious hand sanitizers which contain methanol. Methanol can be highly toxic and dangerous for the human body.
Sources told THE WEEK that a huge catchment of industrial methanol was intercepted by Interpol in Cambodia recently.
The twin Interpol alerts come in the backdrop of a global shortage of medical supplies complicating the usual business channels and forcing the buyers to follow new leads in the hope of securing PPE equipment and masks.
Advance payment scams are taking place massively in Europe, said sources. This has prompted the Interpol to issue an alert to all member countries.
The Interpol alert has prompted the Central Bureau of Investigation to warn all police agencies across states and union territories of online advance payments scams and fake sanitizers containing methanol.
Sources said it all began in mid-March when a number of countries were going into lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
With supply chains hit and shortage of medical equipment, the financial institutions and authorities across Germany, Ireland and Netherlands found that fraudulent companies had entered the online market. All that these companies needed was an email address and a website which appeared to be linked to a legitimate company in countries like Spain selling face masks.
The criminals pose as vendors of medical personal protective equipment (PPE) and other protective equipment supplies related to COVID-19 pandemic and enter into business transactions with clients online. “After receipt of payment via bank transfers, the fraudulent vendors do not make any delivery of items,” said the sources.
The Interpol referred to a Slovenian case where a recent scam, involving advance payment, was busted. The modus operandi is same, said an official.
Meanwhile , the CBI has also alerted police forces across states about the use of methanol for producing fake hand sanitizers.
The CBI alert is again based on inputs received from Interpol about instances in some countries of the use of methanol for preparing spurious hand sanitizers.
“ Instances have been reported in other countries where due to huge demand for hand sanitizers during COVID-19 pandemic, use of methanol was detected to produce counterfeit hand sanitizers,” said the CBI.
