Online pharmacies ‘cloned by criminals’ to sell fake weight-loss drugs

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16 Apr 2026 • 10:29 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Online pharmacies ‘cloned by criminals’ to sell fake weight-loss drugs

  • A National Pharmacy Association (NPA) survey found that nearly two in five pharmacies have served patients who unknowingly purchased fake weight-loss drugs in the last 12 months.
  • The poll of 100 pharmacies across Britain also revealed that one in 10 had their online presence cloned by criminals selling counterfeit medications.
  • Pharmacists are deeply concerned, with 95.2 per cent expressing worry about the illegal sale of these injections and the significant health risks they pose.
  • NPA board member Sehar Shahid, an obesity specialist pharmacist, identified seven key red flags to help consumers spot fake or unregulated weight-loss jabs.
  • These red flags include unusually low prices, absence of thorough medical consultations, requests for non-standard payments, suspicious website URLs, lack of direct contact, unusual liquid appearance, and poor or unsealed packaging.

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