Sold-out Amazon sellers warn shoppers about counterfeit face masks as demand soars amid coronavirus fears
- Vendors on Amazon are selling out of face masks in response to rising demand for protection against the deadly coronavirus.
- As inventory wanes, sellers are warning shoppers against buying counterfeit products in disclaimers and notes on product pages.
- "Please do not buy orders from other sellers to avoid getting counterfeit products," PacingMed, the No. 1 best seller of face masks on Amazon, wrote on its product page. "We are trying to replenish the stock by next month. Sorry for the inconvenience."
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As Americans rush out en masse in search of face masks to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus, sold-out Amazon sellers are warning shoppers against buying counterfeit products.
Though medical experts say face masks aren't very effective in preventing the spread of a disease like coronavirus, that hasn't stopped masks from flying off shelves in the US. However, as inventory wanes, companies like PacingMed - the No. 1 best seller of disposable medical masks on Amazon - and BLBM are urging consumers in disclaimers to avoid buying fake products.
"Dear customer, all of our face masks are sold out. Please do not buy orders from other sellers to avoid getting counterfeit products," PacingMed's product page reads. "We are trying to replenish the stock by next month. Our brand is PacingMed. Sorry for the convenience."
Meanwhile, BLBM replaced its featured product imagery with a similar note, telling shoppers "everything will be all right."
A spokesperson for Amazon directed Business Insider to company policy regarding handling counterfeit sales, which states the company employs tools like machine learning and automated systems to spot and remove fake products.
"We employ dedicated teams of software engineers, applied scientists, program managers, and investigators to operate and continually refine our anti-counterfeiting programs," the policy states. "Amazon's systems automatically and continuously scan numerous data points related to selling partners, products, brands, and offers to detect activity that may indicate a potentially counterfeit product and immediately block or remove it from our store."
PacingMed and BLBM both sell surgical masks, one of two types of masks designed for preventing disease. Surgical masks work by blocking out germs from large particle droplets and preventing mouth-borne germs from transferring from person to person in areas of close contact like public transit.
The other type of masks, N95 respirators, are designed to filter out harmful particles from the air no smaller than 0.3 microns in diameter, making them already mostly ineffective in preventing against the coronavirus, which is 0.12 microns, wrote Business Insider's Holly Secon.
"There's little harm in it," Eric Toner, a scientist at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Secon regarding wearing masks. "But it's not likely to be very effective in preventing it."
With just two confirmed cases in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said "the immediate health risk to the general American public is considered low at this time." Further, the CDC recommends standard precautions like frequent hand washing and avoiding contact with sick people.
Since the outbreak of the coranavirus in Wuhan, China, earlier this month, the disease has killed 81 people and infected more than 2,800 people in 12 countries, according to Chinese media reports.
