Philippine police during the raid led on June 5, 2015 at the Clark call center over alleged counterfeit drugs sales. (Photo: Tammy David for WSJ)
Because of the growing number of drug prescriptions on the Internet and by phone, the call centers are becoming a new way of selling fake drugs.
On 5 June 2015, after months of investigation, the police raided a Philippine call center in north of Manila, Clark call center, and seized 150 computers. The police unfortunately have not managed to arrest the owner of the center. Among 100 employees, 35 were on site during the raid – aged between 18 and 25 – and none of them were aware of the trafficking. Most of the traced sites are hosted in Eastern Europe and USA, and products offered are coming from India and China.
Pfizer has obtained samples of products labeled Viagra® and sold through the center, and confirmed that they were counterfeit.
As the legal centers, these centers take orders, renew prescriptions, answer questions and try to sell more pharmaceuticals.
In 2014, 1,488 people were arrested for counterfeit drug trafficking which represents an increase of 13.5% since 2011.
Source: Wall Street Journal