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Trends in Security
Trends in Security Information
The HSD Trendmonitor is designed to provide access to relevant content on various subjects in the safety and security domain, to identify relevant developments and to connect knowledge and organisations. The safety and security domain encompasses a vast number of subjects. Four relevant taxonomies (type of threat or opportunity, victim, source of threat and domain of application) have been constructed in order to visualize all of these subjects. The taxonomies and related category descriptions have been carefully composed according to other taxonomies, European and international standards and our own expertise.
In order to identify safety and security related trends, relevant reports and HSD news articles are continuously scanned, analysed and classified by hand according to the four taxonomies. This results in a wide array of observations, which we call ‘Trend Snippets’. Multiple Trend Snippets combined can provide insights into safety and security trends. The size of the circles shows the relative weight of the topic, the filters can be used to further select the most relevant content for you. If you have an addition, question or remark, drop us a line at info@securitydelta.nl.
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Distribution of counterfeit and substandard goods
The (online and offline) distribution of counterfeit and substandard personal protective equipment, pharmaceutical and sanitary products, including fake ‘corona home test kits’ and alleged vaccines preventing COVID-19 infection, remains a consistent pandemic-related criminal activity.
More source info
The pandemic economy has presented new business opportunities for criminals attempting to capitalise on goods high in demand and the fear induced by the COVID-19 virus. The distribution of counterfeit and substandard goods has been one of the key criminal activities during the pandemic. With the onset of the pandemic, the demand for healthcare and sanitary products (masks, gloves, cleaning products, hand sanitizers), as well as personal protective equipment increased significantly. There has been a substantial increase in the sales of substandard masks due to their compulsory use in public spaces and public transport in some of the Member States4. Some additional developments, such as the sales of fake ‘corona home test kits’ and fraudulent pharmaceutical products, advertised as allegedly treating or preventing COVID-19, have been particularly worrying from a public health perspective. Scammers have already offered fake vaccines5. The illicit sales of such products have significantly increased online and offline via various online platforms and standard door-to-door sales methods. Such fraud schemes have been targeted at individuals, companies, pharmacies and medical practitioners. While some product offers for counterfeit goods related to the COVID-19 pandemic have appeared on the dark web, the product offerings available there remain limited compared to the surface web, which continues to host the primary distribution platforms for counterfeit goods. Dedicated websites have been set up for the purposes of selling counterfeit sanitary and pharmaceutical products. These often disappeared shortly after receiving negative reviews by defrauded customers. Targeted ads on social media platforms, web shops and in some cases messaging apps have been also reported to have been used to drive up the sales of counterfeit or non-existent goods6. The OCGs involved in the illicit activities related to counterfeit and sub-standard goods have proven to be highly adaptable in adjusting their business model.
Source:
Report
How Covid-19-related Crime Infected Europe During 2020
Date published
22 January 2021
