While using PayPal with online pharmacies may seem like a good idea, there are many risks attached. First and foremost, buying controlled, prescription-only drugs is against PayPal’s policy of acceptable use which states that PayPal cannot be used for purchases of any prescription drugs:
PayPal Acceptable Use
So basically even if all you need is something as harmless as Viagra, it will most probably be off-limits through PayPal legally.
While not recommended, if you would still like to try buying from online pharmacies through PayPal, here are the risks you should be aware of:
PayPal might close your account and freeze your funds for good. PayPal are known to act in a way which is almost tantamount to stealing people’s money when they discover that someone has been buying medicines through the web using their payment service: they will freeze the funds for months and close your account. If determined to use PayPal or wanting extra privacy, it is apparently possible to use PayPal anonymously (search on Google for how-to guides), although the process of setting up an anonymous PayPal account is not quick or easy.
Another mild risk when using PayPal is security. Buying from online pharmacies usually includes giving some ammount of personal information to the pharmacy. Email is usually required, so there‘s a risk it can be used to hack your PayPal account (provided it is the same email). There‘s a first-hand experience at Pharmacy Reviewer forum of someone whos PayPal account was hack attempted: PayPal Alertpay hack attempt and while I do not consider this a serious attempt, it is still something to be considered.
The last two remaining risks are probably the worst ones. There are a handful of accounts scattered around the web of people who had law enforcement officers show up at their door after purchasing medicines through PayPal. However it is not clear that this is a big risk when buying small quantities of medicines which are not highly controlled.
The final risk is of course that the online pharmacy might take your money and refuse to provide anything. For obvious reasons complaining to PayPal might not work in such cases, although it would probably result in the online pharmacy’s PayPal account being closed (but yours too).
For those who are still dedicated to use PayPal with online pharmacies, here is a link to a thread containing success stories at Pharmacy Reviewer forum:
Do any iops use paypal
Leave a comment...