<h1>Illegal online pharmacies pose serious consumer-safety and counterfeit risks worldwide, warns prominent trade report.</h1> Most online pharmacies operate outside regulatory frameworks, selling prescription medicines without licences, prescriptions, or safety warnings and often using deceptive claims of official approval, which increases the risk of substandard, counterfeit, or harmful drugs. The report documents prosecutions and coordinated shutdowns of illicit distribution networks and piracy sites, names major digital platforms for hosting counterfeit goods or slow enforcement, and highlights cross-border supply-chain risks, cyberlocker and service-provider obstacles, and the need for continued platform oversight and international enforcement collaboration.