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Federal authorities say up to five states have purchased fake N95 masks, storage hospitals, medical facilities and government agencies with foreign-made knockoffs that put health workers at risk of coronavirus.
The fake masks closely resemble the N95 masks produced by the Minnesota-based company 3M. Authorities have opened investigations in five states.
These masks create “a false sense of security,” said Steve Francis, deputy director of global trade investigations at the Department of Homeland Security.
N95 masks that were intended for a hospital on the East Coast where medical workers are fighting on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic in December 2020.
(United States Customs and Border Protection)
“We have seen a lot of fraud and other illegal activity,” Francis added.
The masks are issued by companies that are “just starting out,” according to Kevin Rhodes, vice president and deputy general counsel for 3M.
“They are not from authorized distributors,” Rhodes said.
Throughout the pandemic, Homeland Security Investigations seized more than 10 million counterfeit 3M masks. The company has filed more than a dozen lawsuits over reports of fraud and counterfeiting as demand for small, well-fitting masks skyrocketed in 2020.
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Authorities did not identify which states or companies were under investigation, but Washington state officials found that 300,000 masks purchased for around $ 1.4 million were counterfeit.
“3M recently helped Washington state officials confirm that N95 respirators purchased from non-3M distributors are not genuine 3M products,” the manufacturer wrote to Fox News in an email. “3M recommends purchasing our products only from an authorized 3M distributor.”
Cassie Sauer, president and CEO of the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA), said the perpetrators have become quite adept at creating fraudulent personal protective equipment (PPE), and some workers health professionals who donned the fake N95s didn’t even notice a difference.
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In a related press release sent to Fox News, Sauer said that “these masks had the proper paperwork and passed physical inspection and testing.”
Kayla Rivas of Fox News contributed to this report, as well as The Associated Press.
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