OpSec Security Exposes Emerging Schemes by Rogue Internet Pharmacies to Target Consumers

BOSTON-OpSec Security, Inc., the global leader in anti-counterfeiting and brand protection, released a study which highlights key developments by rogue Internet pharmacies and marketing affiliate networks that present a growing risk to consumer health and safety. The findings show the expansion of rogue pharmacies into controlled substances and generic drugs, and their efforts to appear legitimate to deceive consumers.

• Increase in deceptive marketing practices targeting consumers seeking controlled substances for recreational and off-label use, such as Oxycontin and Adderall. Covert tactics include message board spamming and redirecting online traffic through seemingly unrelated websites.
• Sophisticated methods to give websites appearance of legitimacy to fool consumers with a false sense of security, such as falsifying affiliations, accreditations, and host locations.
• Offers of deeply discounted prices for generic versions of prescription drugs still under patent. Fraudulent offers of non-existent dosages and unrecognized drug packaging.

Increased Activity to Target Sales of Controlled Substances

The OpSec study identified the increasing popularity of Internet sales of scheduled drugs for recreational and other off-label uses. Since passage of the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act in 2008, rogue pharmacies are employing tactics to avoid detection, while selectively targeting consumers and using covert marketing.

Since 2009, the top search engines, Google, Bing, and Yahoo, have disallowed the use of registered trademarks for prescription-only products in their sponsored links. However, rogue Internet pharmacies are heavily marketing controlled substances using message board spamming. In this technique, a rogue pharmacy simultaneously sends a link offering highly regulated drugs, such as Oxycontin and Adderall, to hundreds of popular message boards to increase visibility in organic search results. When consumers search for controlled substances online, whether sick patients looking for lower cost medications or drug abusers purchasing without a prescription, the spammed links are prominently displayed. Rogue pharmacies are able to target and divert consumers to illegitimate offers of scheduled drugs.

Another technique is the covert marketing of substandard or counterfeit scheduled drugs by rogue marketing affiliates on their offshoot storefronts. Many rogue marketing networks sell only non-scheduled drugs on their highly visible websites, but operate seemingly unrelated sites selling other products as a cover to market controlled substances. In one example, the Customer Care webpage of a website purported to be selling consumer electronics offers highly regulated drugs, such as phentermine (an active ingredient in Fen-Phen, a drug the FDA recalled in 2003), and zolpidem (Ambien). In many instances, connections between sites can be made based on link analysis and technical similarities, such as shared IP addresses, metadata, and text mapping.

Appearance of Legitimacy Masks Rogue Behavior

The findings of the study highlight an increased sophistication by rogue Internet pharmacies to give the appearance of compliance and legitimacy, while in reality employing illicit practices that expose patients to risks from buying prescription medicine online.

Canadian online pharmacies have garnered a reputation with U.S. patients as a safe alternative for affordable medicine. The study found that 94% of Internet pharmacies purport to be Canadian, either in actuality or with false claims via visible placement of the Canadian maple leaf icon on the site page header. However, 20% of these sites alleging to be Canadian pharmacies are not registered in Canada. Instead, many of the sites are registered in suspicious regions such as Russia, Panama, or Bulgaria, all of which are counterfeiting hot spots.

Other rogue pharmacies proudly display the Canadian International Pharmacy Association seal, which certifies all Canadian Internet pharmacies. These attempts to appear legitimate via false affiliation and accreditation underscore the tactics rogue pharmacies employ to deceive patients.

Suspicious Sale of Generics and Unapproved Drug Dosages

A key factor driving consumers to online pharmacies is the draw of discount prices. Rogue pharmacies capitalize on this market demand by offering prescription medications in generic form at deeply discounted prices. The study found that 72% of rogue Internet pharmacies offer generic versions of drugs still under U.S. patent protection for shipment to U.S. customers. Often, these generic medicines are manufactured in India, a country known for cut-rate prices and potentially substandard quality.

The study also found a high percentage of rogue pharmacies selling drugs with unrecognized dosages and product packaging. For example, offers for the antidepressant Cymbalta at the non-existent 40 mg dosage was found on 67% of the Internet pharmacies in the study.

Rogue Internet pharmacies are using deceitful practices to give a false sense of legitimacy to the unsuspecting consumer, and to remain undetected of their illicit behavior unless analyzed more closely. Whether the appeal is from easy access to controlled substances, an appearance of legitimacy, or generics at discounted low prices, these schemes reveal the escalating risks of buying drugs online. Consumers who are seeking the easiest, lowest-cost method for obtaining their medications need to be wary. More proactive enforcement, regulations, and education are needed to protect patient health and safety.

About OpSec

OpSec Security, Inc. is a wholly-owned division of OpSec Security Group plc (London AIM: OSG). OpSec Security is the global leader in providing anti-counterfeiting technologies, as well as solutions and services for physical and online brand protection, to over 300 brand owners and over 50 governments worldwide. The Group operates manufacturing facilities and laboratories in the USA and the UK, and has sales operations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please see www.opsecsecurity.com, or contact Terri Mock, +1.617.226.3000, or tmock@opsecsecurity.com.