Online Prescription Drug Scammers Siphon Thousands From Victims

Online prescription drug agents have demanded money from customers while posing as government agents, ABC News reports.

Have you ever been tempted by an online advertisement selling weight-loss pills or sleeping aids that are cheap and prescription-free?

Beware: Buying prescription drugs online has cost some people more than they bargained for.

Scammers are prowling the Internet, enticing consumers that buy prescription drugs online. Scammers sell drugs to unsuspecting consumers and then pose as drug enforcement agents threatening to sue the victims for buying drugs illegally if they do not pay up, ABC News reports.

Victims have lost thousands of dollars to the scam, according to ABC News. Carolyn Sirek, a legal secretary in Texas, shot and killed herself after emptying her savings account for scammers that had been harassing her with phone calls.

Losing money to scammers is not the only danger of buying drugs online. A recent study by Carnegie Mellon University found that one in three online searches for prescription drugs redirect people to sites illegally selling prescription drugs, and that these drugs often use incorrect, perilous doses. Counterfeit drugs sold online often do not contain the active ingredient or contain the wrong drug altogether, according to the Mayo Clinic.

In order to avoid scams, the Mayo Clinic recommends buying only prescription drugs that are prescribed by your doctor from licensed pharmacies. If you've bought drugs online and are being scammed, the Drug Enforcement Administration advises that you should hang up the phone and report the incident to the DEA, ABC News reports.

Here are some red flags that the Mayo Clinic highlights as warning signs:

• Ads selling drugs at rates much lower than those at your local pharmacy


• Ads that say no prescriptions required


• Ads for drugs that are not approved by the FDA


• Websites with only foreign contact information


• Websites that don't provide a phone number or street address


• Unsealed or altered packaging


• No delivery at all, and unauthorized charges to your credit card

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Comments

[fozzi58]

01:29 PM on 10/19/2012

I'm still trying to convince my mom that she is not getting any envolopes to "stuff" even after she sent them $25 to work from home. /facepalm

[LeFlaneur]

04:24 PM on 04/17/2012

Just got the call 20 minutes ago. The "Agent" said he intercepted a package from "overseas" addressed to me. I admit, since I knew nothing of this scam, he had me going for a couple minutes until I started asking questions.

He couldn't tell me what pharmacy fulfilled the order, what country the package was from, what it contained, or what address was on it. I started trying to string him along by the end of the conversation, telling him I wanted to see him in person. He told me I was being "uncooperative" and he was going to serve me papers.

Been thinking of posing as an attorney and calling back. If only we could sick the power of "Anonymous" on these guys.

[valgaavmiko]

11:55 PM on 05/31/2012

Had stuff like that happen to my friend's family except instead of drugs it was a scam to sell a dog and fly it to our city. Luckily I caught it in time (they called me over to ask me since they were started to get suspicious) and they headed off any fraudulent charges to their card. We had already alerted the bank when they tried :)

[painfulbetroth]

04:08 PM on 10/15/2012

this is why you always adopt from shelters.

[jscratz]

03:11 AM on 04/13/2012

Yes, and I was stu pid enough to get caught up in one of these scams. I ordered some "mango pills" for weight loss and the next day 200 dollars disappeared from my account. Luckily, it was an account that I pay bills with and there wasn't much money left in the account. I have reported that the advertisement was in Swedish and was on this HP site.
Beware!!!!!!!

[painfulbetroth]

04:08 PM on 10/15/2012

good old diet and exercise works better than any stupid pills any day.

[jscratz]

05:16 PM on 10/15/2012

Agree. I learned the hard way!! :-)

[BevoMD]

05:46 PM on 04/12/2012

Stupid is as stupid does. The DEA never calls to warn you they are busting you. They just do it. Buing controlled drugs online is illegal and could get a person in serious trouble. But -- addicts will try anything.

[colinmeister]

07:51 AM on 04/13/2012

Very true, but the drugs usually being sold are not drugs of addiction. Those 'phone calls should just be answered with a "See you in court then" response or a request to refer any claims to your lawyer.
I used to receive huge amounts of email spam trying to sell me Viagra and Cialis. I never bought any because I thought the tablets would be fakes with no active ingredients, not that I need these drugs anyway. Setting up email spam filters cured my problem with these emails.

[imatowncrier]

03:57 PM on 04/12/2012

Let the Msg machine answer the phone and Erase. No Prolemo!