Paris, December 2 Interpol said on the 2nd that it had issued a global alert to the law enforcement agencies of its 194 member countries to prevent organized crime related to the coronavirus vaccine.
INTERPOL issued a communiqué on the same day, saying that it outlined potential criminal activities related to counterfeiting, stealing and illegal promotion of coronavirus and influenza vaccines in the relevant bulletin.
INTERPOL warns vaccines are the main target of organized crime – “criminal organizations are planning to infiltrate or disrupt supply chains” as many governments prepare to launch vaccines; as many coronavirus vaccines are getting closer to approval and distributed worldwide, ensuring supply chains are safe and identifying the sale of counterfeit products Illegal websites will be crucial.
Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stoker pointed out that criminal organizations will target unsuspecting public through fake websites and false treatments, which may pose a significant risk to their health and even their lives. He noted that law enforcement should prepare for the surge in all types of criminal activity related to the coronavirus vaccine, which is one of the reasons why Interpol issued a relevant global warning.
In addition to the vaccine against the novel coronavirus, criminal gangs are likely to start producing and distributing unauthorized and counterfeit test kits in parallel, Interpol said. This is because international travel may gradually resume, and virus testing is bound to become more important, and more and more departments are requiring passengers to provide negative certificates of virus testing.
As the number of fraud cases related to the coronavirus pandemic increases, Interpol also recommends that the public should be “extra careful” when searching for medical devices or drugs online. Analysis by the organization’s cybercrime department shows that of the 3,000 online drug websites suspected of selling illegal drugs and medical equipment, about 1,700 websites contain cyber threats, especially spam and malware.
Headquartered in Lyon, France, Interpol is the world’s largest inter-national criminal police cooperation organization.
