Pharmaceutical fraud targeting patients and organizations was targeted in a recent report by BrandShield and the Pharmaceutical Security Institute. The removed listings contained a variety of medicines relating to various cancers, HIV and type 2 diabetes, among others. Between January 2022 and January 2023, the listings were analyzed and removed. 

Over the 12-month period, more than 7,500 fraudulent pharmaceutical listings were taken down across social media platforms, websites and marketplaces, accounting for hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of counterfeit drugs. 

The yearlong disruption effort revealed that Indonesia had the highest number of fraudulent listings, where more than 2,200 suspicious listings were removed.

Marketplace listing removals by country  

• Indonesia – 2218 
• India – 539
• China – 190
• Philippines – 118
• Mexico – 53
• Malaysia – 39
• Venezuela – 30
• Thailand – 20 
• United States – 16
• Vietnam – 16

According to the report's analysis, social media platforms were also a top target for pharmaceutical crime, where over 3,074 fake items were removed over the same twelve-month period. While the least compliant social media site stood out with only a 55% takedown rate, there was a massive improvement in the takedown rate overall, which increased by approximately 28% (from 63% to 81%).

Breakdown of takedown rate by social media platform: 

• YouTube – 95.8% 
• Facebook – 92% 
• Instagram – 86.7% 
• Pinterest – 67.3%
• Twitter – 55%