3M, parent company of Top 40 promotional products supplier 3M/Promotional Markets (asi/91240), has sued a Florida company, claiming that the firm sold counterfeit N95 masks to a hospital in Massachusetts.

Minnesota-headquartered 3M manufacturers authentic N95 respirator masks, which have been in high demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, as they help prevent the spread of the virus.

The demand has fueled rampant fraud, with scammers selling N95 knockoffs, often at inflated prices, in a bid to capitalize. 3M says that’s just what MM Medical Supply of Tarpon Springs, FL did.

In its trademark infringement and fraud lawsuit, 3M asserts that MM Medical Supply sold tens of thousands of counterfeit N95 masks to South Shore Health System. According to 3M, the Florida firm deceived the hospital in South Weymouth, MA, into thinking it was an authorized 3M dealer, which 3M says it is not. The suit claims MM sold the masks at “exorbitantly inflated” prices.

3M filed the suit in federal court in Florida on March 31. The company learned of the alleged fraud after an employee of South Shore suspected there was something off about the masks and contacted 3M.

In the suit, 3M alleges that MM Medical Supply was engaging in “pandemic profiteering,” which “not only jeopardizes the health and safety of those fighting the pandemic on the front lines, but also seeks to divert precious public and other funds from the purchase of genuine personal protective equipment.”

3M is asking the court to prohibit MM Medical Supply from selling the alleged fake products. It also wants MM Medical to surrender profits from its mask sales so that 3M can donate the money to COVID-19 relief efforts.

During the coronavirus pandemic, now underway for more than a year in the United States, 3M has filed more than 30 similar lawsuits.

3M has also been working with law enforcement authorities to combat mask fraud. In February, for instance, authorities announced that 3M provided important information that helped lead to the seizure of some 11 million counterfeit N95 masks.

“They’re extremely dangerous,” Steve K. Francis, assistant director for the Global Trade Investigations Division of Homeland Security Investigations, said of the fake masks seized during the raids in February. “They’re providing a false sense of security to our first-line responders, to American consumers. I can’t stress how important it is to ensure that we have the legitimate 3M N95 masks that are being deployed to our first responders.”