Police warn PPE firms to watch for scams

Edmonton city police are warning about a fraud targeting medical supply companies who provide PPE to healthcare workers combating COVID-19 after businesses reported thousands of dollars in losses.

Police in a Thursday news release said a company made a complaint in July about an individual asking to order a large number of medical supplies, specifically gloves, masks and hand sanitizer. Police said the company was pressured to provide fast shipment and given a credit card that did not work. The company filled the order and shipped it to Eastern Canada after the individual promised to send funds electronically.

Police said the company sent the shipment before discovering the transfer never arrived. Since July, four similar fraud complaints were made to police, which resulted in the prevention of shipments from two companies.

Const. Brian Mason said the method of fraud shares some common tactics, including placing a large order over the phone or online and having the shipment be sent before payment has gone through. He said some files appear to be linked, however, it's still unclear if all the reported cases involve the same people.

“The other files do have some similarities here and there but really to firmly say that they're the same suspect, not as yet,” Mason said. “All the methods in which the scammers are targeting these medical supply companies do match up so it's possible that they are the same suspect or at least associated with one another.”

The five reported cases took place in July, October and November. Police said more than $60,000 worth of supplies have been lost while $19,000 in goods have been intercepted and recovered by police prior to shipment.

Mason said these types of fraud are often not covered by insurance.

“In a lot of cases, these medical supply companies are supplying local doctors in local hospitals,” he said. “If these products end up going to other areas for people to sell through fraudulent means then, in speaking with some of these companies, they've said that their ability to supply some of these medical facilities ... could be limited because of that.”

Based on the evidence so far, Mason said it appears the fraudsters aren't located in Edmonton or even in Alberta but instead may be based in the Greater Toronto Area and the area surrounding Montreal. He said all of the shipments are being sent to those general locations where the supplies are being stored locally before being put up for sale through online websites or at warehouses.

Mason said it will take a coordinated effort to try and catch these fraudsters. He said businesses need to watch out for potential signs of fraud, including credit cards coming back declined and not providing government-issued ID.