Avoid #covidscams - A Partnership for Safe Medicines Public Education Campaign

Avoid #COVIDScams and Counterfeiters: Tips to Purchase Medicine Safely

Ask your pharmacist about how much medicine you should buy: hoarding can create unnecessary shortages.

If you are experiencing hardship contact NeedyMeds, RX Outreach and Medicine Assistance Tool to find patient assistance programs to help you afford your medicines.

If you are buying over the counter or prescription medicine online, buy from a .pharmacy pharmacy. Pharmacies in other countries are not safe, even if they "look safe" to you.

Download our guide, AVOID SCAMS & COUNTERFEITS: Quick Tips to Safely Purchase Medicines Online (in English and Spanish) to learn more, and our #covidscams bookmark, which is a quick reference about five kinds of online crime that have spiked since the coronavirus emerged.

For up to to the minute news, track our coverage about the five types of COVID-19 scams.

Adopt this campaign and help spread the word!

Post our one pager to your website and to social media. Use the hashtag #covidscams to help raise awareness of criminals using the crisis to prey on people. Drop us a note at editors@safemedicines.org to let us know you're helping! Click here for sample tweets.

Tell Congress to kick COVID-19 scammers off the Internet!

Learn more and write congress on our TAKE ACTION page.

#covidscam News

Low angled view of the U.S. Capitol East Facade Front in Washington, DC.

PSM asks congress for domain name reforms to stop COVID-19 and other healthcare scams

May 14, 2020

Last week PSM asked Congress to help protect the public from online COVID-19 scams by requiring domain name sellers to suspend and lock websites that facilitate health fraud and re-opening registration information so that law enforcement can pursue criminals using websites to take advantage of the public.

Learn more

Still from May 13 Covidscams VIdeo

#covidscams episode for May 13, 2020: Financial Scams

May 13, 2020

As we’ve focused these last few weeks on COVID-19 scams related to medicine and medical supplies, however, another population of scammers has been exploiting Americans. This week we’re calling out financially-focused covidscams, which comprise a large part of the $13.4 million that U.S. citizens have lost to fraud since the beginning of the year.

Fake Hand Sanitizer and Mask

Counterfeit Medicine News for the Week of May 4, 2020

May 11, 2020

PSM is still monitoring public reports of dangerous counterfeit medical supplies and treatments. Here’s a quick round-up of counterfeit news published the week May 4, 2020.

Still from the May 6 2020 COVID scams video

#covidscams episode for May 6, 2020: Domain Name Reform

May 6, 2020

Law enforcement is encountering problems kicking COVID-19 scammers offline. Learn how, and how we can fix it.

A bottle of poison pills casts a shadow over a map of the U.S.

Counterfeit Medicine News for the Week of April 27, 2020

May 4, 2020

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, PSM is keeping a steady eye on public reports of dangerous counterfeit drugs. Here’s a quick round-up of counterfeit news published the week of April 27th, 2020.