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（尤指毒品買(mǎi)賣(mài)）?vi. 交易（traffic的現(xiàn)在分詞）

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 /pre?/?

1.an animal, a bird, etc. that is hunted, killed and eaten by another 獵物??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；受騙者??Elderly people are easy prey for dishonest salesmen. 老年人容易上狡詐推銷(xiāo)員的當(dāng)。

3.??be/fall ?prey to sth??(1) ( of an animal 動(dòng)物 ) to be killed and eaten by another animal or bird 被捕食；成為獵物?(2) ( of a person 人 ) to be harmed or affected by sth bad 受害；受壞影響

4.??prey on sb's ?mind??( of a thought, problem, etc. 想法、問(wèn)題等 ) to make sb think and worry about it all the time 縈繞心頭；使耿耿于懷

5.?prey on/upon sb/sth??(1) ( of an animal or a bird 獸；鳥(niǎo) ) to hunt and kill another animal for food 捕食；獵獲?(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，坑騙，敲詐（弱者）

vulnerability/?v?ln?r??b?l?ti/ 弱點(diǎn)、易損點(diǎn)，我們常用它的形容詞vulnerable

Criminal gang：犯罪集團(tuán)，犯罪團(tuán)伙?

inconsistency /??nk?n?s?st?ns?/行為等的反復(fù)無(wú)常；證詞等不一致

“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. /?pedl/1，挨戶(hù)銷(xiāo)售；巡回銷(xiāo)售??to peddle illegal drugs 販賣(mài)毒；?2，兜售，宣傳，傳播（思想、消息）??to peddle malicious gossip 散布惡意的流言飛語(yǔ)

falsify /?f??ls??fa?/ ?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. ?對(duì)他的指控包括詐騙、賄賂和篡改業(yè)務(wù)記錄。falsification n. 偽造；歪曲；[審計(jì)] 篡改；證明是假

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 /?si???/1.(心臟病、腦部疾病等的) 突然發(fā)作 2.占領(lǐng)? ?...the seizure of territory through force. ?…對(duì)領(lǐng)土的武裝占領(lǐng)。3. When an organization such as the police or customs makes a seizure of illegal goods, they find them and take them away. 繳獲; 沒(méi)收? ?Police have made one of the biggest seizures of heroin there's ever been. 警方這次繳獲的海洛因是迄今為止數(shù)目最大的幾宗之一。

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. /pr??kj??(r)/1.?~ sth (for sb/sth) ( formal ) to obtain sth, especially with difficulty （設(shè)法）獲得，取得，得到2. to provide a prostitute for sb 誘使（婦女）賣(mài)淫

cloned website：克隆網(wǎng)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：以信息數(shù)據(jù)為基礎(chǔ)的詐騙，包括郵箱攻擊，假網(wǎng)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?個(gè)人防護(hù)裝備

smuggling n. /?sm?ɡl??/ ?[ 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網(wǎng)絡(luò)攻擊

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. /?fr??dj?l?nt/ ?intended to cheat sb, usually in order to make money illegally 欺騙的；欺詐的? fraudulent advertising 虛假不實(shí)的廣告

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

chloroquine /?kl??r???kwi?n/ 藥] 氯喹（瘧疾特效藥的一種）

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. 阿拉伯聯(lián)合酋長(zhǎng)國(guó)??Arab /??r?b/??emirate /??m??r?t, ??m?r?t/酋長(zhǎng)國(guó)

malware /?m?lw??/ 惡意軟件??thermometer /θ??m?m?t?/溫度計(jì)

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. /?b??lk?nz/巴爾干，歐洲東南部?money laundering：洗錢(qián)

illicit adj. /??l?s?t/? ??illicit gains非法收入

1.not allowed by the law SYN illegal 非法的；違法的??illicit drugs 違禁藥物

2.not approved of by the normal rules of society 違背社會(huì)常規(guī)的；不正當(dāng)?shù)??an illicit love affair 不正當(dāng)?shù)娘L(fēng)流韻事

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. /?vent?le?t?(r)/ ?1.通風(fēng)設(shè)備；通風(fēng)口2. 通氣機(jī)；呼吸器?前面看過(guò)關(guān)于印度女性新冠死亡率高的文中使用過(guò)ventilated一詞。表示女性居住的通風(fēng)條件差。

Bosnia??bo-si-ni-a n. 波斯尼亞；波士尼亞??Herzegovina/?h?rts?ɡo?vin?, ?h?t-/ n. 黑塞哥維那（南斯拉夫中西部一地區(qū)）

原文鏈接：https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/07/1067831