Coronavirus Vaccine Unleashes Crimes and Counterfeits

Criminals are targeting not only individuals but also care facilities, he says, describing a phony “pharmaceutical representative” who offered to sell a residential care facility a number of vaccines to inoculate its patients and staff. Fortunately, though, administrators suspected something was amiss, contacted Pfizer and learned it was a ruse, he says.

Talking about the pandemic-induced onslaught of scams and frauds, Kubiak says Pfizer noticed criminal organizations purporting to sell coronavirus vaccines last spring, many months before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Dec. 11 authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in this country. (Now the FDA is poised to authorize a second coronavirus vaccine, from Moderna, for emergency use in the U.S.)

Throughout the health crisis, Pfizer surveilled COVID-19 scams and reported what it spotted to government authorities, Kubiak says. “We began to scour the open web and the dark web for anything — any intelligence — related to COVID-19 related scams.” The intelligence it tracked and shared dealt with counterfeit protective gear — face masks, gloves and gowns, for example — and counterfeit treatments.

Even last spring “we saw criminal organizations purporting to sell vaccines when no vaccine existed,” he says. That told Pfizer officials that regardless of which drug manufacturer's vaccine candidate would be greenlighted, the potential for fakes was high.

— Lev J. Kubiak, Pfizer's chief security officer

"The best offense is a good defense, as they say, the more we can educate people, the more we can reduce the demand for counterfeit medicines."

Last April Europol, the European Union police agency, warned about the “potential harm of offline and online scams offering alleged versions of the COVID-19 vaccine.” Earlier this month, it urged countries to be vigilant about “possible involvement of criminals in the vaccine development and distribution process."

Observed Kubiak: “Anytime you have a shortage and a group of desperate individuals seeking to obtain things that they need ... you always find criminals taking advantage.”

Kubiak says experience trying to combat the multibillion-dollar scourge of counterfeit drugs worldwide positioned Pfizer to help tackle the crimes it foresaw would erupt once a coronavirus vaccine emerged. Already fakes purporting to be popular drugs such as Viagra, Lipitor and Xanax are not just a major headache for legitimate drug manufacturers, they can be deadly to consumers, he says. As an example of a lethal product, he pointed to the antianxiety pill Xanax being laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid typically used for advanced cancer pain.

Pfizer works with customs organizations and federal law enforcement agencies around the globe “to help interdict and stop and identify significant counterfeiters that are involved in profiting from this type of trade,” according to Kubiak, who says it's also important to raise public awareness.

"The best offense is a good defense, as they say,” he concludes. “The more we can educate people, the more we can reduce the demand for counterfeit medicines."