Promotional products professionals take note: The importance of buying from trusted vendors and sourcing from vetted overseas manufacturers has come into keener focus again with another federal bust of fraudulent personal protective equipment.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Cincinnati on Friday, Dec. 11 seized 6,080 masks that purported to be 3M Disposable Respirators Model 8210. Authorities soon determined that the masks, originating from Hong Kong, were counterfeit.

During routine operations, officers discovered a shipment containing 38 shipping boxes, or approximately one pallet, of masks labelled as 3M Disposable Respirators Model 8210. The masks were counterfeit.

“With the current health concerns nationwide, our officers have amplified their efforts to find fake medical supplies that can have potentially deadly consequences,” said Cincinnati Port Director Richard Gillespie. “Counterfeit masks like these are not tested using the same quality control standards as the genuine product, and it is unlikely they will perform in the same manner as the genuine product was designed to do. CBP understands the importance of finding these shipments and preventing them from being sold to unsuspecting consumers.”

According to authorities, the masks were bound for Kingston, Jamaica. Had the respirators been authentic, they would have had a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $6,688.

Fraud surrounding personal protective equipment has multiplied exponentially amid 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic, as end-buyers scramble to attain adequate supply. Demand for 3M masks has been especially high, and counterfeit products have often purported to be 3M, the parent company of Top 40 promotional products supplier 3M/Promotional Markets (asi/91240). For instance, earlier in December, federal authorities seized more than $600,000 worth of counterfeit N95 masks in Texas.

In the Cincinnati case, officers became suspicious about the masks after noting that information provided with the shipment did not meet requirements of the 3M Safe Guard product authentication process. Another red flag was the fact that the boxes were labeled as made in the USA although they were being imported through a freight forwarder in Hong Kong.

The masks were ultimately determined to be counterfeit by CBP’s Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEE), which serve as resources to the broader trade community and to CBP’s U.S. government partners.