Face masks scams are on the rise since the demand for this product escalated due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The International Police (INTERPOL) has made several arrests on individuals involved in face masks scams.
A €1.5 million face mask scam involving some countries in Europe including Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands. The base of this fraudulent operation has been linked to Nigeria. The fraud was reportedly detected by financial institutions in Europe, and emails service, advance payment fraud and fake websites.
The company reportedly claimed to have about 10 million N95 masks with an estimated worth of about 15 million euros but was unable to deliver them. The fake email and website appeared to be linked to a company in Spain known for selling face masks but the buyer was not aware that the site was fake and the company’s email address has been compromised.
The INTERPOL was notified about this scams from the German health authorities when they believed that they were securing face masks to deal with the COVID 19 virus pandemic. After going through deeper investigations the INTERPOL discovered a chain of referrals that eventually led to the discovery of the advance payment fraud.
The INTERPOL is yet to reveal the identity of these fraudsters and it is still unknown if the Nigerian Economic and Financial Commission EFCC was notified about these fraudulent claims.