Customs Confiscates 65,000 Fake N95 Masks At O'Hare Airport

CHICAGO — More than 65,000 counterfeit N95 masks were confiscated from O'Hare Airport Monday, federal authorities said

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers noticed an unfamiliar chemical smell coming from 136 boxes of masks shipped from Columbia that were marked with grammatical errors on packaging made to look like the protective gear was manufactured 3M.

All the masks were being shipped to Virginia. If the masks had been real, the shipment would have been worth more than $400,000 authorities said.

Customs officials said "criminal enterprises" this year have exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to sell counterfeit, unapproved, unsafe personal protective gear including the masks seized in Chicago Monday.

“These counterfeit masks are extremely dangerous and provide a false sense of security to American consumers,” Assistant Area Port Director Hans Leiterman said in a statement. “Unfortunately, there is no shortage of bad actors out there trying to take advantage of consumers during a global pandemic.”