In over 60 cases in 40 countries, representatives of health ministries and hospitals received offers to buy vaccines approved in the respective country, Interpol announced in Lyon on Monday.
Accordingly, the perpetrators usually pretend to represent a vaccine manufacturer or a government organization responsible for the distribution of vaccines. In doing so, they tried to establish contact both via the business and private e-mail addresses of those affected as well as by telephone. Fake websites and profiles in social media would also be used.
“Even if an attempt at fraud fails, it is important that the police are informed in order to investigate possible connections and, as with this Interpol warning, to inform the police authorities of these threats,” said Interpol General Secretary Jürgen Stock. It is vital to protect the process from the manufacture of the vaccines to their delivery. So far, criminals have tried to make a profit in every phase of the corona pandemic, be it with the fake sale of protective equipment, the manufacture and sale of counterfeit vaccines or with hacker attacks on critical infrastructure.
Interpol is based in Lyon, France, and with 194 member countries is the most important police organization in the world. States exchange information on wanted persons via Interpol and report developments in the area of organized crime.