As 3M continues to fight the global pandemic from every angle and help ensure a safe supply of needed personal protective equipment, 3M has expanded its region-specific resources to report and stop fraud around the world.

To protect consumers from being scammed by unscrupulous agents or buying counterfeit products during the COVID-19 outbreak and ensure a safe supply of urgently needed personal protective equipment, 3M has expanded its resources to take strict measures and stop fraudulent products in the market, on a global basis.

The company has observed multiple cases of fraud, counterfeiting, price gouging activities involving respirators and counterfeit AVAGARD™ hand rub solution. Emphasising this as unethical and illegal, the company has been working closely with law enforcement and government agencies to penalise the perpetrators.

More than 140 fraud, price gouging and counterfeit cases have been reported to 3M. Nation-wide raids have been conducted in the regions of Delhi NCR, Surat, and Ahmedabad and efforts are on to further crack down on illegal manufacturing units and sellers.

Commenting on this issue, Ramesh Ramadurai, MD, 3M India, said, “Our manufacturing plant has been working around the clock to augment the production of respirators to ensure a 50 per cent increase in output over capacity. The outbreak, however, has regrettably led to price gouging and other unethical market practices.”

Globally, 3M has fielded and investigated more than 7,700 fraud reports, filed 19 lawsuits, and has been granted nine temporary restraining orders and seven preliminary injunctions. More than 13,500 false or deceptive social media posts, over 11,500 fraudulent e-commerce offerings, and at least 235 deceptive domain names have been removed. 3M has been awarded damages or has received settlement payments in seven cases, with all proceeds being donated to COVID-19 related charities.