The European law enforcement agency Europol says criminals are targeting a fearful public and affecting the fight against the coronavirus.
欧洲执法机构欧洲刑警组织表示，犯罪分子正以恐慌民众为目标，并影响到抗击冠状病毒。

Last week, Europol officials reported that criminals are selling counterfeit products and falsely representing themselves as health care workers. They also accused criminals of attacking computers at a time when many people do their work online at home.
欧洲刑警组织官员上周报告称，犯罪分子正在销售假冒商品，并伪装成卫生保健工作者。他们还指责犯罪分子攻击计算机，很多人这时候都在家上网工作。

One Europol report noted a cyberattack on a hospital in the Czech Republic where workers carry out tests for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. It said the attack forced hospital officials to cancel planned operations on patients.
欧洲刑警组织的一份报告指出，捷克共和国一家负责检测新冠肺炎的医院受到了网络攻击。报告称，这次攻击迫使医院官员取消了对病人的手术计划。

Organized crime groups are well-known for identifying new ways of earning money. The agency said that some groups have found new ways to trick people who are afraid of the virus.
有组织犯罪集团以发现赚钱新方式而闻名。该机构表示，一些组织找到了新办法来欺骗那些害怕病毒的人们。

Catherine de Bolle is Europol's executive director. She noted that criminals have quickly seized the chance to profit from the crisis by changing their methods of operation or developing new ones.
凯瑟琳·德波勒是欧洲刑警组织的执行理事。她指出，犯罪分子已经迅速抓住机会，通过改变其操作手段或发展新手段来从危机中获利。

De Bolle added that organized crime groups' "capacity to exploit this crisis means we need to be constantly ... prepared."
德波勒还表示，有组织犯罪组织“利用这次危机的能力意味着我们需要不断做好准备。”

Europol's report lists four main forms of illegal activity: cybercrime, fraud, counterfeit and poor-quality goods and organized property crime. It noted that criminals make and sell high-demand products like face masks or medicine. Some may even act like medical workers to get into homes or businesses. Europol noted the relative ease of collecting personal information with so many Europeans now doing their jobs online at home.
欧洲刑警组织的报告列出了四种主要形式的非法活动：网络犯罪、欺诈、假冒伪劣商品以及有组织财产犯罪。该组织指出，犯罪分子制造和销售诸如口罩和药品等高需求产品。有些人甚至可能扮作医务人员走进家庭和企业。欧洲刑警组织指出，如今有很多欧洲人在家里上网工作，收集个人信息相对容易。

Coronavirus-related criminal activity is not limited to Europe. An operation in 90 countries, overseen by international police agency Interpol, identified many suspects. They were seeking fast money, notably with the sale of counterfeit masks and medicines. The operation was carried out in early March.
与冠状病毒相关的犯罪活动不局限于欧洲。有90个国家在国际刑警组织的管理下进行的一场行动查明了很多嫌犯。他们都在寻求赚快钱的机会，尤其是通过销售假冒口罩和药品。该行动于3月初进行。

Interpol said it halted the work of 37 organized crime groups, and seized 34,000 false and poor-quality masks, as well as more than $14 million in possibly dangerous medicines. The "corona spray," "corona packages" and medicine are but "the tip of the iceberg" for this new rise in counterfeiting, the agency said.
国际刑警组织表示，它阻止了37个有组织犯罪集团的犯罪行为 ，缴获了3.4万个假冒伪劣口罩，以及超过1400万美元的危险药物。该机构表示，预防冠状病毒喷雾、预防冠状病毒套装以及药物都只是这种假冒商品新现象的冰山一角。

COVID-19 causes mild health problems for most people. They develop a high body temperature and have difficulty breathing. But the disease can cause more serious health problems and death for others, especially for older adults and people with existing health problems.
新冠肺炎会给大多数人造成轻度健康问题。他们会发烧和呼吸困难。但是这种疾病会给其他人带来更严重的健康问题和死亡，尤其是对老年人和存在健康问题的人来说。

Europol noted how one European company sent 6.6 million euros to another in Singapore to buy face masks and personal cleaning products.
欧洲刑警组织指出，一家欧洲公司向另一家新加坡公司支付了660万欧元购买口罩和个人清洁产品。

"The goods were never received," the report said. It did not identify either company.
报告称：“从来没有收到货。”报告未给出其中任何一家公司的名称。

Criminals also are a threat to individuals as governments order hundreds of millions of people to stay at home to slow the spread of the virus. There have been several different methods of fraud that criminals have used to get inside private homes. But they often involve someone acting as a medical official, running a "corona test" and providing cleaning products or informative material, Europol said.
随着各国政府下令成千上万人呆在家里以减缓病毒传播速度，犯罪分子也对个人构成威胁。犯罪分子曾经使用多种不同的欺诈手段进入私人住宅。但是他们通常会有人扮作医务人员，进行“冠状病毒检测”并提供清洁产品或信息材料。

In one European country, an individual was notified by phone of a family member hospitalized with the virus. The individual then received a middle-of-the-night visit from people who falsely identified themselves as doctors. These people wore protective equipment and even gave the victim a false virus test for the coronavirus.
在某个欧洲国家，有人接到电话通知称有家人因为这种病毒住院治疗。然后有人假扮医生深夜来访。这些人穿着防护装备，甚至给受害人进行了一次虚假的冠状病毒检测。

European officials have warned the public to be careful about possible fraud during these unusual times.
欧洲官员已经警告公众，在这种不寻常时期要警惕潜在欺诈。

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted that many people are spending increased time on the internet, for work or to just to keep busy at home. She said this means that criminals "exploit our concerns about the coronavirus."
欧盟委员会主席冯德莱恩指出，很多人在互联网上花费更多时间，忙着工作或是仅仅为了在家里忙起来。她说，这意味着犯罪分子利用了我们对冠状病毒的担忧。

"Our fear becomes their business opportunity," she said.
她说：“我们的恐惧变成了他们的商机。”

I'm Pete Musto.
我是皮特·姆斯托。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)

The European law enforcement agency Europol says criminals are targeting a fearful public and affecting the fight against the coronavirus.

Last week, Europol officials reported that criminals are selling counterfeit products and falsely representing themselves as health care workers. They also accused criminals of attacking computers at a time when many people do their work online at home.

FILE - Jan. 11, 2013 file photo of a member of the Cybercrime Center as he turns on the light in a lab during a media tour at the occasion of the official opening of the Cybercrime Center at Europol headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

One Europol report noted a cyberattack on a hospital in the Czech Republic where workers carry out tests for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. It said the attack forced hospital officials to cancel planned operations on patients.

Organized crime groups are well-known for identifying new ways of earning money. The agency said that some groups have found new ways to trick people who are afraid of the virus.

Catherine de Bolle is Europol's executive director. She noted that criminals have quickly seized the chance to profit from the crisis by changing their methods of operation or developing new ones.

De Bolle added that organized crime groups' "capacity to exploit this crisis means we need to be constantly ... prepared."

Europol's report lists four main forms of illegal activity: cybercrime, fraud, counterfeit and poor-quality goods and organized property crime. It noted that criminals make and sell high-demand products like face masks or medicine. Some may even act like medical workers to get into homes or businesses. Europol noted the relative ease of collecting personal information with so many Europeans now doing their jobs online at home.

Coronavirus-related criminal activity is not limited to Europe. An operation in 90 countries, overseen by international police agency Interpol, identified many suspects. They were seeking fast money, notably with the sale of counterfeit masks and medicines. The operation was carried out in early March.

Interpol said it halted the work of 37 organized crime groups, and seized 34,000 false and poor-quality masks, as well as more than $14 million in possibly dangerous medicines. The "corona spray," "corona packages" and medicine are but "the tip of the iceberg" for this new rise in counterfeiting, the agency said.

COVID-19 causes mild health problems for most people. They develop a high body temperature and have difficulty breathing. But the disease can cause more serious health problems and death for others, especially for older adults and people with existing health problems.

Europol noted how one European company sent 6.6 million euros to another in Singapore to buy face masks and personal cleaning products.

"The goods were never received," the report said. It did not identify either company.

Criminals also are a threat to individuals as governments order hundreds of millions of people to stay at home to slow the spread of the virus. There have been several different methods of fraud that criminals have used to get inside private homes. But they often involve someone acting as a medical official, running a "corona test" and providing cleaning products or informative material, Europol said.

In one European country, an individual was notified by phone of a family member hospitalized with the virus. The individual then received a middle-of-the-night visit from people who falsely identified themselves as doctors. These people wore protective equipment and even gave the victim a false virus test for the coronavirus.

European officials have warned the public to be careful about possible fraud during these unusual times.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted that many people are spending increased time on the internet, for work or to just to keep busy at home. She said this means that criminals "exploit our concerns about the coronavirus."

"Our fear becomes their business opportunity," she said.

I'm Pete Musto.

Elaine Ganly reported on this story for the Reuters news agency. Pete Musto adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

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Words in This Story

target(ing) – v. to direct an action or message at someone or something

counterfeit – adj. made to look like an exact copy of something in order to trick people

cyberattack – n. an attempt by hackers to damage or destroy a computer network or system

capacity – n. the ability to do something

exploit - v. to use someone or something in a way that helps you unfairly

constantly - adv. happening all the time or very often over a period of time

fraud – n. the crime of using dishonest methods to take something valuable from another person

mask(s) – n. a covering for your face or for part of your face

tip of the iceberg – n. a small part of something, such as a problem, that is seen or known about when there is a much larger part that is not seen or known about

opportunity – n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done