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How to Protect Yourself from Online Pharmacy Scams?
In our strongly digitalized world, more and more things might be bought online. Namely, you might freely buy groceries, clothes, and even pharmaceutical products on the Internet. Without any doubt, the possibility of online shopping has made the lives of people much more convenient.
However, is it absolutely safe to buy such things as pharmaceutical products on the web? And how to avoid online pharmacy scams? Let us find the answers to these questions by means of checking out what is a scam, what are the dangers of buying on scam websites, and how to identify that you are on a pharmacy scam website.
Above anything else, it is essential to figure out what is a scam. Therefore, let us define it in simple words.
The term “scam” is relatively new. It appeared in the 1960s to identify fraudulent bankruptcies or rumors. Thus, the word is closely connected to dishonesty. In the 21st century, the term scam has slightly changed its meaning. However, it is still intimately linked to dishonest actions.
These days, the very basic definition of a scam characterizes it as any kind of fraudulent business that deceives people in order to gain money or any kind of other profit. The term is especially widely used in regard to dishonesty that occurs on the web. Thus, deceitful websites that cheat on their users in any way might be defined as scams.
There exist different types of Internet scams, such as:
Each above-mentioned type of Internet scam is not only dangerous but also widely spread these days. Thus, it is of vital importance to know how to protect yourself from it. Otherwise, you might run into certain dangers.
If you get trapped in the scam of online retailers of pharmaceutical goods, you are likely to experience the following public health risks:
IMPORTANT: Online retail scam is especially dangerous when it comes to the pharmaceutical business. Without any doubt, receiving a non-original T-shirt from an unknown manufacturer after paying for the original Dolce & Gabbana T-shirt is very unpleasant. However, it is nothing compared to getting poor quality hyaluronic acid cosmetic injectables that might the injections of which might cause serious actual and potential complications (like a severe allergic reaction or skin irritation) after buying authentic dermal fillers.
In order to protect yourself from the above-mentioned situations, it is essential to know how to identify online pharmacy scams.
There exist numerous ways to identify online pharmacy scams. Below, you will be able to take a closer look at the most efficient ones. Thus, please go through these top-7 methods of how to recognize a pharmaceutical scammer on the web in order to reduce the risk of being deceived.
Firstly, it might be useful to pay attention to the website’s name. If it seems rather strange to you, there is a high chance that you are going to buy dermal fillers or other cosmetic injectables on a scam website.
For instance, if a pharmaceutical supplier that sells (or pretends to sell) botulinum toxin products names itself as “Botox Shop” or “Buy Botox Online,” it might indicate that its primary aim is to rank high in search engines rather than sell high-quality products.
If you take a look at the screenshot above, you will be able to see that the name of the website is “Buy Botox Online.” One of the reasons for it might be that the website wants to occupy top positions in search engine rankings by means of employing a relevant keyword in its name. Interestingly enough, the website claims to be “The Best Dermal Fillers Store” despite the fact that it is supposed to sell Botox.
IMPORTANT: The above-mentioned method of identifying the scam pharmaceutical website is probably the least reliable if compared to the other five. Still, its usage oftentimes prevents people from buying poor-quality Botox or dermal filler injectables.
Another way how to identify a scam pharmaceutical supplier is to take a look at the design and usability of the website. In most cases, scammers do not care about the way their website looks or functions, since they want to create it in short terms and with minimal expenses.
Thus, think twice before ordering cosmetic injectables from a poorly designed website. Remember, a scammer does not think about the user experience of its “customers” and, therefore, does not pay attention to the design and usability of the website that is used to deceive people.
By means of looking at the screenshot above, you will be able to see an example of a poorly designed website. As you might notice, the logotypes of pharmaceutical brands are cut off (it is clearly visible if you take a look at the logos of Surgiderm, Filorga, and Revitacare). Moreover, the website uses a variety of different fonts on one single webpage, which makes it difficult for a user to navigate across it. Such factors might indicate that the website was created hastily and without the help of a professional web designer.
Moreover, it might be a good idea to go through product descriptions on a pharmaceutical website if you would like to define whether you might trust it. In most cases, scammers do not pay attention to the characterization of goods that are sold on their websites. Otherwise, they:
We know that it is not always the case and there is a possibility of a scammer having original product descriptions on its website. Still, the method of going through the description of the product you are going to offer might help you to identify whether the website is reliable in some cases.
IMPORTANT: Sometimes you might identify that the product description is stolen by simply taking a closer look at it. Namely, scammers might forget to delete the name of the real supplier they stole the description from.
Apart from checking out the description of the product that you are going to buy, it is also essential to keep an eye on its picture. Naturally, a great number of scammers do not even have products they “sell.” Therefore, they cannot take pictures of these products and simply steal them from websites of reliable pharmaceutical suppliers.
But how can you identify that the product picture is stolen? Well, the easiest method of doing it is looking for the presence of a watermark on the picture. The thing is that real suppliers of pharmaceutical goods tend to add watermarks to their product pictures in order to protect them from being used by third parties.
The way scammers steal product pictures from reliable pharmaceutical websites might be illustrated by the screenshot above. If you take a look at the product picture on it, you will be able to see that it contains a watermark (four colorful dots in the middle of the picture). This watermark, however, does not belong to the website illustrated in the screenshot, since it is a logotype of a well-known and trustworthy supplier of cosmetic injectables called FillerSupplies.com.
A very visible indicator of a scam pharmaceutical website is a suspiciously low price for products. Remember, “the only free cheese is in a mousetrap.” Therefore, the price for a certain product that is substantially lower than an average one on the market might help you to realize that you are on a website of a scammer.
Naturally, a trustworthy supplier of pharmaceuticals might offer a substantially lower price for a certain product by means of providing a client with a wholesale discount, special offer, or anything like that. However, a filler that costs $100 on a market is very unlikely to be sold for $15.
IMPORTANT: Another distinctive feature that might differentiate online pharmacy scams from reliable pharmaceutical suppliers is the possibility to pay for the products in cryptocurrencies. Keep in mind that a vast majority of trustworthy resellers of medical and cosmetic injectables accept payments in world currencies only.
Remember, such medications as prescribed drugs or cosmetic products require either a valid prescription from a trained medical professional or a license that proves that you are a board-certified health care practitioner. For this reason, reliable websites tend to sell pharmaceuticals to trained professional specialists only.
While scam pharmacies, in their turn, do not care about the safety of their consumers or the danger of self-injecting procedures by untrained people. It does not matter for them whether pharmaceutical products are bought by plastic surgeons or their patients since their only concern is to earn profit. Thus, they tend to sell medications to anyone, no matter whether a person is a medical professional or not.
Last but not least, it is essential to check out the website’s reviews before buying botulinum toxins, soft tissue fillers, or other products for cosmetic treatment on it. It is probably one of the most accurate methods to both identify a scammer and find a reliable supplier of pharmaceutical goods.
However, it is essential to rely on relevant sources only when reading the client’s feedback on a certain pharmaceutical supplier. We recommend checking out the website’s reviews on such trustworthy services as:
While the first two platforms that are mentioned above are rather general and contain a bunch of reviews on websites from different spheres, PharmaReviews is a source that deals specifically with online pharmacies. Thus, feel free to rely on it when checking out a supplier of pharmaceutical products.
IMPORTANT: All the above-mentioned ways to identify a pharmaceutical scammer are approximate. In other words, they do not guarantee 100% accuracy in defining whether a website is reliable or not. However, they might be of great help in some cases.
All in all, there exist numerous ways to identify an online pharmacy scam and, therefore, protect yourself from it. Always keep them in mind when looking for a place where to buy pharmaceutical products in order not to fall into the trap of scammers. Stay sharp and rely only on trustworthy suppliers.