Interpol arrests of millions of dollars in protective masks fraud

The European Law Implementation Co-operation Agency (EUROPOL) has arrested two people in the Netherlands under suspicion that they are part of a criminal network that planned a multi-million-dollar fraud by selling non-existing medical equipment in Europe.

Europol said that in mid-March, German healthcare employed two companies from Zurich and Hamburg to obtain protective masks worth 15m euros.

With a global shortage in medical supplies that complicate common business channels, buyers followed new ways in hopes of securing masks.

They first contacted what seemed to be a legitimate website in Spain that sells masks to the face. Despite the buyers, the site was false.

Through e - mail, the company initially claimed to have 10 million masks. They then referred to buyers to a trusted merchant in Ireland. The Irish mediator promised to contact another supplier, this time in Holland.

The buyers initiated a bank transfer to Ireland and prepared for surrender, which included 52 trucks and a police escort to transport masks from a warehouse in the Netherlands to the final destination in Germany.

Shortly before the surrender date, buyers were announced that the funds had been rejected and that an urgent transfer of 880,000 euros directly to the Dutch supplier was required to secure the goods.

The buyers carried out the pay and the masks never arrived. It turns out that the Dutch company had existed, but their website was also fake. There was no official record of order.

When the buyers realized that they had been deceived, they contacted their bank in Germany to follow in the footsteps of the money.

Thanks to an alert issued by investigators, the United Kingdom bank was able to recall the total sum.

Information Service Fiscal Dutchman and the investigation quickly revealed 880,000 euros that had been transferred from the German company. Nearly 500,000 euros of those funds were sent to the United Kingdom, all of which were destined for an account in Nigeria.

These funds are now returned to the Netherlands and frozen by authorities.