News & Updates
The Latest on Internet Pharmacies, Supplements, Designer Drugs,
and Other High-Risk Merchants
Today’s Multilevel Marketing: New Look, Same Risk for Payment Service Providers
Today’s multilevel marketing (MLM) organizations look nothing like the Amway and Herbalife of the past. Cosmetics and nutritional supplements may still dominate the industry, but companies have expanded into product lines of every sort: essential oils, kitchen gadgets, yoga pants, software, consulting, and pretty much anything else you can imagine. This product expansion, combined with…
CBD Demand is Causing a Rise in Transaction Laundering
One of the most pervasive threats to payment service providers is transaction laundering — which is often used to process credit card transactions for illicit pharmaceuticals or intellectual property infringement, but increasingly is used for cannabidiol (CBD) products. Since the change in legal status of certain forms of CBD as a result of the 2018…
What the Blackstone Labs Indictment Means for Payment Service Providers
Last month, six people associated with Blackstone Labs were charged in an indictment to market and sell illegal dietary supplements for use in bodybuilding and weight loss. The indictment is significant because of the size and reach of Blackstone Labs, and because of the way it is alleged to have deceptively labeled products for years.…
Q&A with Evan Ratliff, Author of The Mastermind
In 2012, LegitScript estimated that at least half of the rogue online pharmacies in the world were registered through ABSystems, a registrar operated by criminal mastermind Paul Le Roux. This massive network of online pharmacies, which fell under the umbrella of an operation called RX Limited, facilitated the sale of prescription drugs to US customers…
Enhanced Athlete CEO Pleads Guilty to Felony Related to Online Sale of Dangerous Substance
The CEO of Enhanced Athlete, Inc., a California-based dietary supplement distributor, pleaded guilty late last month to a felony related to the marketing and sale of DNP, a dangerous substance used by bodybuilders and others for weight-loss purposes. The plea made by Scott Cavell came just weeks after a criminal conviction in a UK court…
Bing Adopts LegitScript Addiction Treatment Certification Standards
I’m happy to announce that, starting in March, Bing will require LegitScript certification for providers of drug and alcohol addiction treatment who want to advertise in the United States. The certification program, which launched in July 2018, is now recognized by Bing, Google, and Facebook for addiction treatment providers looking to advertise. According Melissa Alsoszatai-Petheo,…
Drop-shipping Clusters Pose an Elevated Fraud Risk
If you’ve read our Drop-shipping FAQ Guide, you know that drop-shipping merchants pose an elevated risk because of increased chargebacks and the potential for transaction laundering. But are you aware of drop-shipping clusters and the increased likelihood they are engaged in fraud? Learn about this danger that may be in your portfolio, hiding in plain…
A Recent Surge of Synthol Online Increases Risk for Payments and E-commerce
Most payment service providers are smart enough to be on the lookout for rogue merchants selling steroids or SARMs for use in bodybuilding. But what they may not be aware of are merchants selling synthol, a potentially dangerous injectable masquerading as a harmless topical. Although synthol and other products like it have been around for…
Three Things Payment Service Providers Need to Know About CBD Sales
The 2018 Farm Bill, which was signed into law last month, includes provisions removing hemp and its extracts, including hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD), from the DEA’s Controlled Substances schedules entirely. This is a monumental shift for industrial hemp and CBD in the US, and it promises big opportunities for CBD merchants and the payment facilitators that…
How Will the FDA’s New Dietary Supplement Working Group Affect You?
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced last month a new working group to improve oversight of the dietary supplement industry. The move could mean increased safety for consumers, but also increased scrutiny of dietary supplement merchants and the payment facilitators that onboard them. An Unwieldy Industry In a speech at the Food and…