eBay is being flooded with dangerous counterfeit OTC drugs - the weight loss drug Alli in particular

[brettglass]

I recently tried to buy a bottle of the weight loss drug Alli, an enzyme inhibitor which inactivates the enzymes that digest fat. I searched for "Alli 170" to find the most economical size and bought a bottle. When it arrived, I discovered that there were misspellings on the (fake) product box; that there was no package insert; that the manufacturer's authenticity seals on the box and the bottle were absent; and that the capsules themselves were not marked as the manufacturer said genuine capsules would be. I tried again; the second bottle I ordered was fake as well. Both sellers had faked their locations, claiming to be in dramatically different locations than those from which the packages were shipped. I managed to get refunds, but then MORE fakes appeared on the site, some obvious just from the listing (the fake packages, which are being mass-produced, have the wrong proportions). At this moment there are at least a dozen bogus listings for the counterfeit products, many sharing the same photos.

This is not the only fake drug for sale on eBay, but is perhaps the most dangerous. According to the FDA, there was a rash of fake Alli for sale on eBay and other auction sites back in 2010 - see http://www.cbsnews.com/news/see-the-fdas-photo-gallery-of-alli-diet-drug-fakes-its-triple-trouble-fo... - and due to a recent price increase it is happening again. But I have found NO way to contact eBay and have it look into this problem. (eBay's social media staff on Twitter acknowledged my report but did absolutly nothing.) The fake capsules (I did not dare to take one) are likely filled with a dangerous stimulant that can sometimes cause people to lose weight but also causes heart problems. Does eBay care? Is it worried about getting sued? (It should be.) How to reach someone who can do something?

[kensgiftshop]

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@janet9988 wrote:

I avoid the possibility of fake OTC drugs all together.

 I do not buy any type of this product online. Period.

Buyers should read the FDA warnings.

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There's no way I'd buy items you put in or on your body from strangers on sites like Ebay.

[krazzykats]

Again, why do people buy stuff online?  For a better price of course. 

So, to save a few dollars, you trust a person on the internet that you don't know because they have the best price.  SMH. 😶

[psfhobbies]

I was buying Areds for eyes here, but one I got was very suspect so I stopped getting them here. The Seresto dog collars we bought here were also fake ( I did a you tube video of that years ago got a lot of "thank you" messages ) 

The one thing I have issues is all the things they sell here to ingest like pills..are hard to authenticate but when I was selling a certain type of model car glue ( NOT to be ingested)  Ebay banned it because of it having some kind of cancer causing substance. Ok I'm good with that now but its still being sold in every hobby shop in America..and sometimes still on Ebay..You can ingest moth balls too but people know not to..not sure what my point is other than watch what you buy I guess.

[simba6]

I'm not sure a flea-market is the place to buy items like that.

[brettglass]

Yes, eBay should enforce its rules. Which SPECIFICALLY prohibit trademark and copyright infringement and counterfeits. Yet, when alerted to these violations, eBay did and does nothing - even when it might endanger buyers' lives. No excuse.

[brettglass]

Scammers attempted to sell fake OTC drugs - including Alli - on Amazon, too. The difference between eBay and Amazon is that Amazon put a stop to it.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@krazzykats wrote:

Again, why do people buy stuff online?  For a better price of course. 

So, to save a few dollars, you trust a person on the internet that you don't know because they have the best price.  SMH. 😶

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Even that is not so. When we hear complaints about buyers receiving drop ships from Amazon, Walmart or Sams, we know they are not receiving the best price. Perhaps they are receiving the best price on Ebay, but many of the offers on Ebay are retail arb and should be suspect because they could be short dated from the clearance racks and you cannot tell the difference between those sellers and the thieves and counterfeiters.

[brettglass]

Indeed. And many of those drop shippers will ship used and damaged goods from "Amazon Warehouse" and list them as new or "open box." But dangerous counterfeit drugs are a whole new level of malfeasance. The unwary buyer isn't just losing money; his or her life could be in danger. eBay MUST act on reports of this activity.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

This is a fundamental Ebay issue. Amazon requires a full manufacturer's warranty to list as new. Many items listed as new on Ebay have nothing other than the Ebay MBG which expires in 30 days. If a buyer complains that the manufacture will not honor the warranty, Amazon will refund the buyer from the seller's funds at any time during the warranty.

[brettglass]

Buying on Amazon is not a 100% guarantee of authenticity. Yes, Amazon acts to stop sales of fakes, which makes it much better than eBay as a place to buy such products. But some counterfeits do slip through on Amazon as well. I bought a fake on eBay that had an Amazon product number sticker. (The seller bought it on Amazon and then resold it to me on eBay, without even taking care to remove that sticker.)

At least Amazon has a method for reporting fakes and removes them. eBay doesn't even have an effective way to do THAT. (Reports of counterfeit listings are ignored, even when you point out obvious signs of fakes such as misspellings on the box or the lack of authenticity seals.)

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@brettglass wrote:

Buying on Amazon is not a 100% guarantee of authenticity.

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Absolutely.

But that item with the FBA sticker might not have come directly from Amazon.

There are tons of FBA products with stickers intact in liquidation channels. That includes fakes.

There are liquidators who sell in retail outlets or flea markers at 40% off the Amazon price and lower their prices weekly until they reach 90% of retail price. Some of those products go back to Amazon, others wind up on Ebay.

For major brands, the odds of a counterfeit are much lower on Amazon because Amazon requires proof that the seller is authorized by the brand and can provide invoices from the wholesale sales group at the manufacture or its authorized wholesale distributor, and it requires them before they are allowed to list the items.

Like Ebay, Amazon does not act on random reports of fakes. It has algorithms which track returns reasons and reviews, and the seller's volume.

The emphasis and costs are primarily upfront.

If you consider the complaints on this forum about having to use Ebay Payments, imagine what the complaints about pre-authorization would be.

Amazon also does some safety checking on products in advance. Any device which gives off radio frequency interference must provide the FCC registration number.

Children's toys must have a current CPSC submitted, Even if 100 or 1000 other sellers are selling the identical item.

Ebay's erosion in sales of mass market items is well justified, and Ebay management appears to have accepted it and focused their energies elsewhere.

[krazzykats]

eBay has problems with counterfeiters, fakes, and knockoffs, etc.  It is BIG business around the world.  Fake jewelry & coins, bootleg movies & music, clothing & purses, and HBA, probably a few other things. 

So, what's a solution for the millions and millions (maybe billions??) of fake and illegal items sold online, sold at flea markets, or even in retail stores?

[brettglass]

Nope. Amazon does not require that sellers be "authorized by the brand." That's why there are so many sellers whose names are random jumbles of letters drop shipping from AliExpress.

[deltilogical]

I always go to flea markets to buy my medication. Sometimes I go garbage picking to see if I can find them in the trash.  

[brettglass]

Another sign that eBay just doesn't care if people are poisoned: Today, I reported a listing for a very obvious fake. The photo in the listing clearly showed a "seal" on a box of fake Alli that DIDN'T EVEN MATCH THE DESCRIPTION OF THE AUTHENTIC SEAL THAT WAS PRINTED ON THE SAME BOX! But eBay didn't remove the listing. It sent me an e-mail saying, "We looked into your report and didn't find the listing to be in violation of our policy. This determination was made by a customer service agent."

In other words, some below-minimum-wage employee in a foreign country, who might not even speak English as a first language, looked at the report and didn't understand it.

If someone gets poisoned, eBay will be liable.