The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers who seek to buy medications through websites that they may be opening themselves up to of a swarm of imposters claiming to be representatives of the regulatory agency.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers who seek to buy medications through websites that they may be opening themselves up to of a swarm of imposters claiming to be representatives of the regulatory agency.
Late Friday the agency issued a release that said criminals are forging FDA warning letters that target those who have tried to purchase medications online or over the telephone. The FDA said it is concerned the letters are linked to an “international extortion scam.” In its warning, the FDA said it does not send letters to individuals who try to acquire online medications. It does not appear that the warning letters demand some form of payment to the imposter FDA agents, much like the scam telephone calls from those claiming to represent the U.S. Internal Revenue Service do. However, the FDA’s announcement is an attempt to nip that in the bud before scammers do seek money from unsuspecting individuals.
The FDA said the letters appear to have been sent to individuals who attempted to acquire medications from an online set or telephone number that has been set up by the scammers. The letters claim that the FDA has determined there have been drug violations “based on a review of their parcel and their social media accounts.” The scam letters typically refer to the recipients by the titles “Sir or Ma’am,” but the FDA said some of the letters have been specifically made out to individuals. The scam letters add that the FDA is investigating the attempted transaction and that “necessary legal steps will be taken” if it was determined that there was “any suspicious activity” on the end of the consumer.
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the FDA warning letters are typically issued to drug manufacturers or distributors. Consumers are not targets of the FDA warning letters, he said.
“Consumers who aren’t involved in manufacturing or distributing FDA regulated products should be on alert that if you get an FDA warning letter, it’s probably fake, and probably a scam. We know the confusion and concern that these fake warning letters may cause and want to assure consumers that we generally don’t take action against individuals for purchasing a medicine online, though we regularly take action against the owners and operators of illegal websites,” Gottlieb said in a statement.
While Gottlieb’s statement was initiated to curb consumer concerns over the scam letters, he did take the opportunity to remind the public of “the dangers of purchasing medicines from illegal online pharmacies.” Gottlieb said there is a risk to people receiving unapproved or counterfeit medications. Those risks include the danger of acquiring an ineffective counterfeit medication, or one that does more harm than good. It also opens up consumers to potential scams like the false letters or allows malicious software to be placed onto an unsuspecting consumer’s computer that steals personal information.
“If a consumer buys medicine from an illegal online pharmacy, they also risk being harassed by repeated emails and phone calls or being charged for products they never ordered or received,” the FDA said.
Gottlieb added that there are safe websites that will provide medications, but those U.S.-licensed online pharmacies require prescriptions.
