Fake pharmacies sell prescription-only drugs without a license and without requiring a valid prescription from a doctor. The storefronts are advertised to consumers through web searches, social media, and unsolicited spam emails. As you might expect, many of these platforms attempt to block known fake pharmacies.
Netcraft analysts have observed evidence of a 12-month spike in fake pharmacy campaigns using page.link (Firebase Dynamic Links), more than doubling since last year. Many of these campaigns bounce visitors through a series of redirects to disguise the eventual destination, inadvertently making it easy for fraudsters to hide malicious links in shortened URLs.
What are fake pharmacies?
Fake pharmacies are a type of counterfeit online shopping website that market prescription drugs, often advertising them as well-known products from established pharmaceutical companies.
Usually operating outside the countries to which they’re selling, these stores are unlicensed and unregulated and will often include false accreditations and phony endorsements from reputable organizations to build perceived credibility.
The majority of fake pharmacies accept standard credit cards and PayPal, with some accepting cryptocurrency for a discount.
Figure 1 Extract from a fake pharmacy site, with spoofed endorsements
Some sites will simply steal payment details. However, unlike other fake online shopping websites, most fake pharmacies will deliver drugs to victims. These could be counterfeit, diluted, or expired drugs and may contain unexpected, potentially fatal ingredients.
Figure 2 Fake pharmacies sell unlicensed drugs without a prescription, often in very high quantities
Low-quality counterfeits can pose a serious threat to consumers’ health and legitimate pharmaceutical products, with buyers
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