3M Expands Actions Globally to Fight COVID Fraud, Counterfeiting and Price-gouging
October 05 2020 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
As 3M continues to fight the global pandemic from every angle,
and help ensure a safe supply of needed personal protective
equipment, 3M has expanded its region-specific resources to report
and stop fraud around the world.
The company has launched an aggressive legal effort to stop
profiteers who are attempting to take advantage of the demand for
3M products used by healthcare workers and first responders.
Building on this work, 3M has established hotlines around the world
to report suspected fraud and has created online resources to help
spot price-gouging, identify authentic 3M respirators and ensure
products are from 3M authorized distributors.
3M has investigated more than 7,700 fraud reports globally,
filed 19 lawsuits, and has been granted nine temporary restraining
orders and seven preliminary injunctions. More than 13,500 false or
deceptive social media posts, over 11,500 fraudulent e-commerce
offerings and at least 235 deceptive domain names have been
removed. 3M has been awarded damages or has received settlement
payments in seven cases, with all proceeds being donated to
COVID-19 related charities.
Highlights of Global Actions
3M has not, and will not, increase the prices of its respirators
as a result of the pandemic. 3M is a global company with factories
that produce respirators and other critical products needed to
fight COVID-19 in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia.
To combat increased counterfeiting and online fraud during the
COVID-19 outbreak, 3M is working with law enforcement and customs
agencies in every region of the world.
3M is also engaged with many major e-marketplace operators to
detect and disrupt fraudulent and counterfeit respirator offers,
including Amazon, Alibaba, Mercadolibre, Lazada, eBay, Flipkart,
Shopee, Made-in-China and several others.
In particular:
- Since the pandemic began, 3M has worked with customs and law
enforcement agencies around the world to seize approximately 3.5
million counterfeit respirators, either as the products are moving
through customs, or in targeted raids against suspected resellers
and manufacturers of counterfeit products.
- 3M has engaged with law enforcement agencies to fight
counterfeiting in more than 1,200 actions around the world.
- In Latin America, 3M has worked with customs agencies in more
than 15 cases to seize counterfeit respirators being imported into
the region from other parts of the world, with several of the
seized consignments containing more than 10,000 counterfeit
respirators.
- In the United Arab Emirates, 3M has worked with police and the
Dubai Department of Economic Development to seize over 600,000
counterfeit respirators.
- In Vietnam, a 3M investigation led to a raid and seizure of
more than 150,000 counterfeit respirators. The Hanoi and Ho Chi
Minh City Market Management Bureaus also seized the manufacturing
equipment used to make the fake respirators.
- In Europe, 3M is fighting multiple cases of fraud involving bad
actors using .nl, .uk and .pl domain names intended to deceive
buyers with offers of nonexistent or fake 3M respirators. Other
scams include using the names of 3M employees in fake invoices and
certificates to claim a relationship to the company. 3M is taking
legal action and is working with law enforcement through the
European Union.
- In India, 3M is working with law enforcement agencies in
multiple states to investigate and raid manufacturing operations
producing counterfeit N95 respirators, and resellers offering
counterfeit N95 respirators to the public, seizing fake products
and holding bad actors responsible.
- In South Africa, 3M is investigating numerous cases of fraud
and the sale of counterfeit respirators. In two recent cases, South
African customs seized over 100,000 counterfeit 3M
respirators.
These are just some examples of the many actions 3M is taking to
stop and deter fraud to protect people around the world.
About 3M
At 3M, we apply science in collaborative ways to improve lives
daily. With $32 billion in sales, our 96,000 employees connect with
customers all around the world. Learn more about 3M’s creative
solutions to the world’s problems at www.3M.com or on Twitter @3M
or @3MNews.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201005005433/en/
3M Contact: Jennifer Ehrlich 651-736-9430
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