On the Internet, false online sales sites of drugs proliferate. France is even particularly targeted according to the recent report of a cybersecurity group. A phenomenon which is notably favored by ruptures and which must warn the risks of simplification of the online sales of drugs.
It is a scourge against which it is very difficult to fight. On the Internet, a simple research from a molecule reveals dozens of sites usurping the identity of pharmacies and selling drugs subject to prescription. Some of these sites are even promoted by emails, by advertisements on social networks or by false health blogs. Ozempic, Quétiapine, erectile dysfunction drugs are particularly highlighted. “We regularly receive reports from sites that sell products illegally. We make complaint deposits, but it is very difficult to follow, they close and reappear immediately elsewhere ”deplores Carine Wolf-Thal, president of the National Council of the Order of Pharmacists (CNOP).
According to the latest report of the Cybersecurity Gen group, France would even be “The most targeted country” By these false pharmacie sites, called “pharmufraud”. Proof of the magnitude of the phenomenon, researchers have identified a network of “More than 5,000 false sites marketing treatments” And more “ 151,000 Pharmafraud attacks have been blocked ” by the Avast cybersecurity company since January in France. The “cybermalveillance.gouv.fr” platform has also identified “A notable number of records of suspicious domain names with the term” pharmacy “”, Since 2024. Even more impressive figure: 96 % of online pharmacies would be illegal according to the Institute for Anti-CONTREFURATION OF DRAGE. While some false sites are content to steal the personal, medical or banking data from buyers, others really deliver counterfeit or unregulated drugs, with particularly important health risks. In all, half of the drugs sold on the internet worldwide would be falsified, alerts the World Health Organization (WHO).
If our country is particularly affected, it is especially because “Occasional difficulties in supplying medication”, explain Michal Salàt, Director of Research on Avast threats. A particularly visible problem on psychotropic drugs in recent months. Certain drugs such as ozempic anti-diabetic, very popular but whose prescription rules are restricted, are also particularly sought after by patients who wish to get it without going through a doctor. “Some people are so anxious about not having their medication that they try to find all possible solutions, even if it means adopting behaviors that seem completely aberrant”underlines Pierre-Olivier Variot, President of the Union of Unions of Pharmacists of Frame (USPO).
If the portal “My pharmacy in France”, thought by the profession and in particular the representatives of the groups, will be operational in October, the rise of these false medicines sales sites must arouse consciences according to Pierre-Olivier Variot. This, while the current government’s desire to liberalize the sale of drugs on the Internet is a secret of Polichinelle. “You have to stay on a hard line” On this subject, pleads the president of the USPO. ““ My pharmacy in France ”is not a marketplace that will be used to look for a drug and see where to get it. This portal will virtually push the door of your pharmacy and make a request as if you were physically there ”he explains. Even caution on the Carine Wolf-Thal side and the order of pharmacists who, in the light of these elements, wonder about “Utility” electronic commerce when the pharmacy mesh allows you to obtain “A drug quickly with the advice of a pharmacist”.
