Spotting Online Pharmacy Scams: Learn from My Mistake

This is absolutely amazing! I recently did a Google search for a natural feel good pill that did not require a prescription. After finding Relacore and some other pills that were not what I was looking for, I happened to stumble across an article about Hydrocodone and Vicodin. Of course, these euphoria inducing pain pills would require a prescription, right? Wrong!

There are tons of online pharmacy websites that offer drugs like these without a prescription. Most just have you fill out a questionnaire. Of course, you can see the fatal errors that can occur from someone providing false information. Many don't even require any medical history at all, just a credit card number.

Many of these online pharmacy scam websites are based in foreign countries and promise that their prices are far less than those of American pharmacies. This is true. These companies offer up to 80% discounts on many prescription drugs from your local pharmacy.

These online pharmacy scam websites promise a discreet and convenient way to purchase your medications. This is also a great way for drug abusers and dealers to have access to a never ending supply of pharmaceutical candies. It is also a great way for phony drug companies to provide you with out of date prescriptions and counterfeit pills that could be fatal.

Now before you decide to report every one of these types of online pharmacy companies to the authorities, you should know that there are lots of legitimate online pharmacies that you can order you prescriptions from. The keyword here is prescription. You must provide your prescription, either by having your doctor call it in, fax it in, or email it to the company. These legitimate online pharmacies often offer discounts and you have the benefit of ordering your prescriptions discreetly.

So what should you be wary of? Don't ever try to order a prescription medication online when the website doesn't ask for an actual prescription in your name and from your doctor. If there is no U.S. address and phone number to use for contact information then don't even try dealing with them. Imagine getting some fake Phentermine, losing all of your hair, and then not being able to contact the company (scam artists) who screwed you with it.

There is a website that you can go to that lists licensed online pharmacies. If you are interested in purchasing your prescriptions online, check with these guys first:

National Association of Boards of Pharmacy - Phone: 847-698-6227

I looked on their website, napb.net, myself to see if some of these so called online pharmacies were legitimate. I wasn't the least bit to surprised to see that none of the pharmacies that required no medical history or prescription didn't make the list. You can report any suspicious looking sites to these guys as well. These are the types people who get rid of online pharmacy scam websites.

Here is a great example of one of these bogus online pharmacy websites. DrugsForCost.com looks pretty legit. Visit it yourself to see what an online pharmacy scam looks like. You are almost tempted to place an order. Lucky for you, I have warned you of the red flags of these online pharmacy scams.

Click on the 'Contact Us' prompt at the top right hand corner of the DrugsForCost.com homepage. Surprise! No address or phone number. You can always email them, but their email address isn't even displayed. In fact, I don't even see a human being's name anywhere on the site!

Now look at the bottom right hand corner of the site. Aha! There is a U.S. site that they are affiliated with. Click on the FrontierPharmacies.com link provided and see if you can tell if they are a legitimate online pharmacy or a clever scam. Can you tell? Well, let's see, they do provide a U.S. customer service number at the top right hand corner of the site. The company website looks real enough so they must be the real deal, right?

Well, the U.S. customer service number provided will lead you to believe that they can be contacted and therefore must be legitimate. The average person who is buying their prescriptions online is not going to call customer service before receiving their order and having some sort of complication with it.

When was the last time you went to a retail store and headed over to the customer service desk before purchasing any merchandise? Exactly. You go to customer service after you get the product home, have a problem with it, and then need to complain about it or get your money back.

I have done my homework so you don't have to be screwed by these types of online pharmacy scam companies. I did something that FrontierPharmacies.com wouldn't expect of a typical customer. I called the customer service number provided before purchasing anything. This was at 7:15 am, not at some ungodly hour. The phone rang twelve times and then hung up. I never even got an answering machine! No automated menus. No 'all customer service reps are busy' message. Not even some robot telling me their hours of operation so that I would know when to call them back.

This is just how sneaky these online pharmacy scam artists can be. I have to be honest here, if it wasn't for my knowledge of these companies' offering prescription medications without an actual prescription, I would have ordered one of their weight loss drugs. It is so much cheaper on the site and I wouldn't have had to go to the doctor and sob about my weight issues.

Now that you know how to spot an online pharmacy scam, be sure to spread the word. Don't be fooled by empty promises of discount drugs without a prescription. You could end up with an expired drug that makes you fatally ill or a placebo that just royally pisses you off. If it sounds too good to be true, then it's probably a scam.