Criminals in Europe find their way to take advantage of the Corona crisis, from trading in surgical masks and counterfeit medicines, to conducting online frauds. With billions of people isolated in their homes and the borders of their countries closed, police officials say criminals find it difficult to make money from "traditional" activities, such as theft and drug trafficking.

And the European Police Agency (Europol) warned that these criminals take advantage of people's fears of the Corona virus pandemic, to sell them substandard products, or defraud them and take their money online.
The European Organization reported that police around the world seized 34,000 fake surgical masks in a major operation targeting the so-called "Corona criminals", earlier this month.

The fraudsters were too quick to adapt known fraud schemes to take advantage of the concerns of victims during the crisis, the report added. The police reported a significant decrease in criminal behavior common to many European countries.

And the Spanish police said that there was a decrease of nearly 50% in criminal crimes, compared to the previous year, and since the country was placed in a state of almost complete closure on the 14th of this month. "There is no doubt that domestic quarantine makes the execution of the crime more difficult," said Lorentino Senna, deputy director of the Spanish civilian police force in Guardia.

Drug sales on the streets of Sweden have dropped dramatically in many countries since the outbreak, as authorities closed borders and restricted the movement of people. However, on the other hand, other forms of crime whose perpetrators are trying to profit increased, taking advantage of the outbreak. "We are seeing a decrease in robbery and theft, but at the same time, there is an increase in the percentage of cybercrime," Austrian Interior Minister Karl Niehamer said this week.

Several police agencies and security forces have said that online fraud is widespread across Europe. The British National Crime Agency confirmed that criminals "target people who seek to buy medical supplies over the Internet, and send emails that provide false medical support, and defraud the weakest, or most feeling isolated in their homes."

In Denmark, the government has vowed to impose severe penalties on people who steal hand sanitizers and thieves who pretend to be health workers. The police have also warned people of thieves, who wear protective masks and claim to be carrying out a coronavirus test for home theft. And he warned officials of stalkers, who are targeting youngsters who spend more time in front of screens at home.

The British National Police Council warned that the epidemic "could bring out the worst of humanity," referring to the theft of oxygen bottles from a hospital in Manchester. Police in Britain and Austria have arrested people who coughed or spit on others, claiming they were infected with the virus.