2024-04-27 20:43:48
This week, the State Medicines Control Service even drew attention to several suspicious cases. The latest example is when the name of the Ministry of Health (SAM) was used to create an impression about the reliability of the medicine.
True, the fraudsters did not accurately reproduce the design of the SAM website – different colors, text font, wrongly arranged sections. In addition, the eye is caught by spelling mistakes.
The drug is also advertised by a fictional doctor: doctor urologist andrologist Eglė Varnelytė does not exist.
Creates impact advertising
“Fraudsters constantly offer people to buy products of unknown origin, presented as medicines, on the Internet. The service notices such offers itself, and also receives complaints from citizens who find websites or posts on social networks with published misleading and untrue information about preparations that supposedly allow to quickly and effectively get rid of one or another disease and health disorder”, – lrytas.lt said VVKT press representative Aistė Tautvydiene.
“We do not have official statistics of such liars, but every month we have to deal with several cases of fraud”, explained A. Tautvydiene.
Pharmacists say that there are curious situations when residents come with unclear “medicine” boxes and ask about them in pharmacies.
“The boxes themselves or their photos are usually non-Lithuanian and with active ingredients not registered in Lithuania”, – lrytas.lt said Sigita Korbutaitė, pharmacist of “Gintarinės vaistinės”.
According to her, the most common reason for choosing such a new product is the effectiveness of advertising. The tempting phrase “will help against all diseases”, the promise of an extremely fast effect tempts.
Camelia pharmacist Virgilija Bečelytė also noticed that scammers know how to choose suggestive words.
“Both from conversations with patients and from personal observation of social networks, the descriptions of some advertised preparations sound quite convincing, so it is really possible to be deceived, especially for people who are gullible and who have not encountered lies.
Most often, the products advertised in the stream of pharmaceutical fakes have many positive, but unrealistic, reviews from other users. Often they sound like irregular values from a foreign language, have certain key suggestive words. Therefore, it is very important to remain aware in the online space, and to consult with doctors or pharmacists regarding visible unclear medicines or food supplements”, advised V. Bečelytė.
According to S. Korbutaitė, a new trend has been noticed in recent years. After the start of the war in Ukraine, pharmacists see pictures of “miracle” products on customers’ phone screens instead of physical boxes bought at the market.
VVKT observes that online scammers offer people to buy prescription drugs without a prescription or promise to quickly and easily obtain those drugs whose supply is disrupted. If the drug is not available in the pharmacy, can a reliable product be found on the “black market”?
“This is almost impossible simply because of the strict requirements for the import of medicines and checking for counterfeits. Indeed, there have indeed been advertisements for prescription drugs whose supply has been disrupted. Most of the time, these were drugs that could help you lose weight.
I heard a story in Poland about an injectable drug that supposedly helps with weight loss. It was not yet registered in that country at the time, but scammers were already selling it on a popular classifieds portal. A special temperature regime is necessary for this medicine, so this fact was an obvious proof that if someone bought that medicine, they got something that is not clear”, said S. Korbutaitė.
It is necessary to look for a special logo
VVKT emphasizes that it is safe to buy medicines only on websites marked with a special logo. It is true that the logo can only be trusted if, after clicking on it, a list of pharmacies that sell medicines remotely appears (in the case of Lithuania, you can see this information on the www.vvkt.lt website).
The agency said it oversees only legal trade. “The sale of drugs by unlicensed persons, the sale of unregistered drugs, as well as the sale of drugs in the market, social networks, and various chat sites are illegal activities. In order to prevent illegal activities, it is necessary to contact the police”, said A. Tautvydiene.
He was warned that when taking preparations of unknown origin, presented as medicines, as well as falsified medicines, a person can experience many adverse reactions.
“This would include rash, swelling, pain in the head, muscles or other parts of the body, fever, nausea and vomiting, drowsiness, lethargy, dizziness, possible serious poisoning or even death. Sometimes nothing can happen, because a person did not buy a medicine, even though he was told the opposite, but a preparation that has no effect on the body and contains the simplest sugar, flour or other available cheapest substance.
The society itself can punish such fraudsters most effectively, being alert and responsible, not buying such products from those who just want to cheat and make a profit”, advised the representative of the VVKT.
Fraudsters target familiar faces
Fraudsters often use the name and image of famous people. Only the promoters of the alleged drug know nothing about it.
For example, in the past there was a lie on the Internet in which the Minister of Health Arūnas Dulkys is introduced as a cardiologist who recommends medicines. However, the alleged interview with the politician was faked.
Earlier lrytas.lt has written about the advertisement of a fake medicine spread on the Internet, in which the politician Aurelijas Veryga and the well-known Kaunas clinic pediatrician prof. Images and names of Rimantas Kėvalos.
“I feel bad because people are being deceived by using my image,” said R. Kėvalas.
And A. Veryga then warned that sellers of obscure products offer to clean the blood vessels of the brain, but actually have another goal.
“In reality, what the sellers want most is to ‘clean out’ your pockets.” Be alert and don’t fall for such scams. And if you also consume something unclear, you will lose your brain along with your blood vessels, if there were any at all,” the politician joked.
2024-04-27 20:43:48