How to avoid the painful experience of online fraud - Steve Cardownie

Steve Cardownie was informed that current waiting times for knee surgery were ‘very prolonged’ (Picture: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Nothing much really, some physiotherapy exercises, pain reduction medication and a daily, painless, self-administered, jab in my stomach to reduce the chances of blood clots forming. All in all, no big deal and well worth it.

I have had both knees done now but put up with pain and immobility for a number of years before finally getting the nod that I had secured an appointment for the operations. During that time, I browsed Facebook for alternative remedies for rheumatoid arthritis and found myself getting bombarded with adverts extolling the virtues of all manner of knee contraptions and lotions, all of which I chose to ignore and placed my faith in corrective surgery.

The outlandish claims in the marketing bumf raised my suspicions and made me wonder just how widespread this practice is.

“Action Fraud” ( the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber-crime) where you should report fraud if you have been scammed, defrauded or experienced cyber crime, tells us that “Health and medical scams happen after you receive an email or an advert promising miracle tablets and other medical cures that offer unbelievable results.

The fraudsters lead their victims to believe they’ll receive a product or service of comparative quality for a lower price, or that the product or service they are buying will provide a miracle cure. Some of the products on sale are so-called ‘cures’ for acne, AIDS, arthritis, baldness, cancer, impotence and weight loss.”

I know from painful experience just how much I was tempted to purchase some of the products I was being induced to buy. When the prospect of just walking down the street would inevitably mean intolerable pain, I was prepared to consider almost anything that offered a way out and had to stop and take stock, mid-purchase, before cancelling the transactions I was about to complete.

Action First advises that you should talk to your GP or pharmacist first as they will be able to tell you whether the product is safe and effective and if you are managing a health condition, never stop taking a prescribed medicine, or start taking new medicine, without speaking to your GP or pharmacist.

To help in identifying a legitimate pharmacy website, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has produced an internet pharmacy logo that acts as a visual aid for people who want to buy medicines online and only bona fide registered pharmacies providing professional services in Great Britain are entitled to display the logo.

There may well be alternative treatments for rheumatoid arthritis that actually work but such claims provide an opportunity for fraudsters to get involved, raising hopes among sufferers that the chronic pain will soon be a thing of the past- only to have these hopes dashed.

Desperate people are prepared to consider almost anything that might offer some respite, but such consideration should be undertaken with ample research into the product or procedure on offer.

The importance of discussing potential remedies with those that can be trusted cannot be understated and professional advice is readily available.

Consumers in Scotland lodge over 1300 fraud and scam complaints annually to the Financial Ombudsman Service but you can take some simple steps to reduce your chances of adding to that statistic!