IT security firm Sophos is warning of the dangers of buying medicines online following the death of a Canadian woman, who took pills laced with poisonous substances purchased from the Internet.
Fifty-seven-year old Marcia Bergeron died of poisoning after taking pills labelled as anti-anxiety medication and sedatives purchased from a website that used fake endorsements from medical agencies. The pills were found to contain traces of uranium, strontium, selnium, aluminium, barium and boron.
“This is a tragic reminder that you should always consult a doctor and never purchase pills online or reply to emails that offer miracle cures at knocked-down prices,” said Sophos senior technology consultant, Graham Cluley.
Sophos’s Security Threat Report 2007 found that almost 60 percent of all spam sent across the internet is related to drugs and medication.
“Medical spam is a serious problem, not only clogging up networks with unwanted messages, but putting lives at risk. All computer users need to display common sense when it comes to opening and responding to unsolicited messages – if what’s being offered seems too good to be true, then it probably is,” Cluley added.
The Canadian Pharmacists’ Association said that up to 50 per cent of the drugs from online pharmacies can be counterfeit or sub-standard.
