The growing popularity of Ozempic for weight loss has led to a surge in phishing scams targeting unsuspecting consumers seeking the drug online, cybersecurity experts have warned.
These fraudulent schemes mimic legitimate offers of Ozempic, tricking users into providing personal and financial information on fake websites. People may suffer financial losses and risk having their sensitive data compromised.
The prescription diabetes medication Ozempic was found to have weight-loss and appetite-suppressing properties, prompting celebrities and consequently the public to buy the drug, sparking a craze. Scammers were taking advantage of this, experts said.
“Scammers are quickly adapting to social and cultural trends to ensnare helpless victims seeking alternative means of joining the latest fad, be it Barbenheimer tickets, Mortal Kombat games, or cheap holidays. In 2023, Kaspersky’s anti-phishing system thwarted over 709 million attempts to access phishing and scam websites, marking a 40% increase compared to the previous year,” Kapersky said.
In the case of Ozempic, they were found to have created fake websites offering low-cost Ozempic that prompt unsuspecting victims to fill out a form, providing personal data including name, address, and banking information. The web pages are difficult to distinguish from most shopping websites so they can easily bait unaware consumers.
In addition to Ozempic sales, some of such resources offered to install a phone application that would help track weight-loss progress.
Kaspersky security expert Olga Svistunova said: “We have discovered a concerning trend of fraudulent phishing pages designed to mimic legitimate Ozempic offers, resulting in unsuspecting users falling victim to financial losses and data breaches. We believe that shedding light on this issue is crucial to safeguarding the well-being and security of consumers, particularly during awards season when many celebrities expected to show up to events like the Oscars having recently lost weight due to Ozempic. It's crucial to emphasise that purchasing such treatment should only be done through authentic pharmaceutical channels and with a doctor's prescription.”
The cybersecurity company warned that unsuspecting shoppers could end up losing money, paying for a fake product or nothing at all or “they may accidentally give up their name, address, banking information and other sensitive data to an unscrupulous criminal”.
To avoid falling victim to a phishing scam, experts recommended the following:
- Only get medication upon the recommendation of a licensed physician or pharmacist and use only recommended and approved drugs.
- Think twice before clicking on an offer – when something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
- Don’t open emails or click links unless you are sure you can trust the sender.
- When a sender is legitimate, but the content of the message seems strange, it is worth checking with the sender using alternative means of communication.
- Before interacting with a website, conduct a Google search of its name, scrutinise reviews, and verify the creation date via WHOIS services. Exercise caution if the domain appears to be recently registered.
- Use a security solution when surfing the web capable of spotting and blocking spam and phishing campaigns.
Cape Times