Illegal trade in fake or faulty COVID-19 products booming, new UN research reveals

    8 July 2020  UN

A surge in demand for medical products to combat COVID-19 has led to a jump in the trafficking of substandard and faulty merchandise, according to new UN research published on Wednesday.

“Health and lives are at risk with criminals exploiting the COVID-19 crisis to cash in on public anxiety and increased demand for PPE and medications”, said Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the UN Office on drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Among its countless other impacts, the coronavirus has further highlighted the shortcomings in regulatory and legal frameworks aimed at preventing the manufacturing and selling of these products, points out the UNODC research brief, entitled “COVID-19-related Trafficking of Medical Products as a Threat to Public Health”. 

Trafficking n. 非法交易（尤指毒品买卖） vi. 交易（traffic的现在分词）

Preying on vulnerabilities

The research reveals that criminal gangs are exploiting both the uncertainties surrounding the coronavirus along with inconsistencies in national regulation regimens.

prey /preɪ/ 

1.an animal, a bird, etc. that is hunted, killed and eaten by another 猎物 •birds of prey (= birds that kill for food) 猛禽

2. a person who is harmed or tricked by sb, especially for dishonest purposes 受害者；受骗者 •Elderly people are easy prey for dishonest salesmen. 老年人容易上狡诈推销员的当。

3.  be/fall ˈprey to sth  (1) ( of an animal 动物 ) to be killed and eaten by another animal or bird 被捕食；成为猎物 (2) ( of a person 人 ) to be harmed or affected by sth bad 受害；受坏影响

4.  prey on sb's ˈmind  ( of a thought, problem, etc. 想法、问题等 ) to make sb think and worry about it all the time 萦绕心头；使耿耿于怀

5. prey on/upon sb/sth  (1) ( of an animal or a bird 兽；鸟 ) to hunt and kill another animal for food 捕食；猎获 (2) to harm sb who is weaker than you, or make use of them in a dishonest way to get what you want 欺凌，坑骗，敲诈（弱者）

vulnerability/ˌvʌlnərəˈbɪləti/ 弱点、易损点，我们常用它的形容词vulnerable

Criminal gang：犯罪集团，犯罪团伙 

inconsistency /ˌɪnkənˈsɪstənsɪ/行为等的反复无常；证词等不一致

“Transnational organized crime groups take advantage of gaps in national regulation and oversight to peddle substandard and falsified medical product”, explained the UN crime-fighting chief.

peddle v. /ˈpedl/1，挨户销售；巡回销售 •to peddle illegal drugs 贩卖毒； 2，兜售，宣传，传播（思想、消息） •to peddle malicious gossip 散布恶意的流言飞语

falsify /ˈfɔːlsɪˌfaɪ/  V-T If someone falsifies something, they change it or add untrue details to it in order to deceive people. 篡改•  The charges against him include fraud, bribery, and falsifying business records.  对他的指控包括诈骗、贿赂和篡改业务记录。falsification n. 伪造；歪曲；[审计] 篡改；证明是假

The falsification of medical products bears significant risks for public health as products may not properly treat the disease and may facilitate the development of drug resistance.

Criminal groups have also quickly adjusted to the opportunities arising from the COVID-19 pandemic to exploit the vulnerabilities and gaps in the health and criminal justice systems. 

Evidence shows that fraud, scams and seizures, involving the manufacture and trafficking of substandard and falsified medical products, have followed the spread of the virus.

seizure /ˈsiːʒə/1.(心脏病、脑部疾病等的) 突然发作 2.占领•  ...the seizure of territory through force.  …对领土的武装占领。3. When an organization such as the police or customs makes a seizure of illegal goods, they find them and take them away. 缴获; 没收•  Police have made one of the biggest seizures of heroin there's ever been. 警方这次缴获的海洛因是迄今为止数目最大的几宗之一。

In one case, German health authorities contracted two sales companies in Switzerland and Germany to procure €15 million worth of face masks through a cloned website of an apparently legitimate company in Spain. 

procure v. /prəˈkjʊə(r)/1. ~ sth (for sb/sth) ( formal ) to obtain sth, especially with difficulty （设法）获得，取得，得到2. to provide a prostitute for sb 诱使（妇女）卖淫

cloned website：克隆网站

“We need to help countries increase cooperation to close gaps, build law enforcement and criminal justice capacity, and drive public awareness to keep people safe”, Ms. Waly upheld.

Harmonized global approach needed

The pandemic has also highlighted a boom in data-based scams – including phishing, and business email attacks – or the creation of fake corporate websites to fool purchasers.

data-based scams：以信息数据为基础的诈骗，包括邮箱攻击，假网站等

UNODC’s research also predicts that the behaviour of organized criminal groups will gradually change over the course of the pandemic.

When a vaccine is developed, it will likely lead to a shift in focus away from PPE smuggling to trafficking in the vaccine.

PPE:Personal Protective Equipment 个人防护装备

smuggling n. /ˈsmʌɡlɪŋ/  [ U ] the crime of taking, sending or bringing goods secretly and illegally into or out of a country 走私（罪）• drug smuggling 毒品走私

Cyberattack： cyber-attack网络攻击

Moreover, cyberattacks on critical infrastructure involved in addressing the pandemic are also likely to continue in the form of online scams aimed at health procurement authorities, according to the research.

Strengthening legal frameworks and penalties, and a more harmonized global approach to the criminalization of the manufacture and trafficking of falsified medical products is crucial, as only a common approach will enable effective responses to crimes impacting individuals and public health, the UNODC brief maintains.

At the same time however, preventing, detecting, and responding to medical product-related crime will require people who work in the medical product sector to acquire new or additional skills.

Examples worldwide of COVID-19 scams

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said it took down more than 2,000 online coronavirus scams in March alone, which included 471 fake online shops selling fraudulent COVID-19-related items.

fraudulent adj. /ˈfrɔːdjələnt/  intended to cheat sb, usually in order to make money illegally 欺骗的；欺诈的• fraudulent advertising 虚假不实的广告

Police in France removed 70 fraudulent websites claiming to sell chloroquine in April.

chloroquine /ˈklɔːrəʊˌkwiːn/ 药] 氯喹（疟疾特效药的一种）

COVID-19-related scams in the USA amounted to approximately US$13.4 million in fraud, from the beginning of January to mid-April this year, and have affected more than 18,000 citizens.

In the first four months of 2020, 1,541 cyberattacks related to COVID-19 were detected in the United Arab Emirates including 775 malware threats, 621 email spam attacks and 145 URL attacks.

the United Arab Emirates n. 阿拉伯联合酋长国  Arab /ˈærəb/  emirate /ɛˈmɪərɪt, ˈɛmɪrɪt/酋长国

malware /ˈmælwɛə/ 恶意软件  thermometer /θəˈmɒmɪtə/温度计

A seizure of 3,300 thermometers was reported in Thailand , after being trafficked through three other countries and a report of thermometers which do not conform with EU regulations was also noted in Italy.

Organized criminal groups in the Western Balkans are believed to be involved in money laundering and investing their illicit gains in the production and trafficking of falsified medical products and protective clothing.

Balkans n. /ˈbɔːlkənz/巴尔干，欧洲东南部 money laundering：洗钱

illicit adj. /ɪˈlɪsɪt/    illicit gains非法收入

1.not allowed by the law SYN illegal 非法的；违法的 •illicit drugs 违禁药物

2.not approved of by the normal rules of society 违背社会常规的；不正当的 •an illicit love affair 不正当的风流韵事

There have been COVID-19-related reports of substandard and falsified ventilators in Russia, where a fraud enquiry has begun, as well as in the UK, where ventilators supplied were substandard and potentially dangerous. The supply of substandard ventilators was also reported in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

ventilator n. /ˈventɪleɪtə(r)/  1.通风设备；通风口2. 通气机；呼吸器 前面看过关于印度女性新冠死亡率高的文中使用过ventilated一词。表示女性居住的通风条件差。

Bosnia  bo-si-ni-a n. 波斯尼亚；波士尼亚  Herzegovina/ˌhɛrtsəɡoˈvinə, ˌhɚt-/ n. 黑塞哥维那（南斯拉夫中西部一地区）

原文链接：https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/07/1067831