# Mail order 'Viagra' **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-viagra/588999 "2011-07-14T12:36:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-viagra/588999/1 "2011-07-14T12:36:51Z")
After cleaning out the same Trojan Horse e-mailer from my wife’s computer for the eleventy bazillionth time, I have to ask a question. The TH mailer SPAMs her webmail adress book with an ad for a Canadian mail order pharmacy, hawking Viagra and Cialis. Does anyone know if they send the real stuff, or a phoney look alike? No, I do not need an answer fast, nor am I considering an order. Just wondering how much of a scam this is… ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-viagra/588999/2 "2011-07-14T12:55:42Z")
There’s probably a very good chance you’ll get nothing. Either they simply have some way of avoiding charge-backs (or they’ll just plain steal your CC information), or they’re betting that you (or some percentage of their “customers”) simply won’t want to call their credit card companies to tell them their quasi-legal erection pills didn’t arrive. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-viagra/588999/3 "2011-07-14T13:53:15Z")
[We discussed this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=611855) about a month ago, without any real conclusion. I’ve ordered from India before without any complaints (except for shipping time, of course), but YMMV. I imagine if you’re trying to get your hands on brand-name Viagra and it’s not at least $15/pill, it’s probably fake. Even wholesale price on it is ridiculous. But it is probably cheap enough to synthesize that a generic sildenafil tablet is close enough to legit. Ordering from a company who stocks a generic that’s made by a US-approved generic manufacturer probably also helps. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-viagra/588999/4 "2011-07-14T13:57:06Z")
> [@chaoticbear](#): > > I imagine if you’re trying to get your hands on brand-name Viagra and it’s not at least $15/pill, it’s probably fake. But it might work anyway – placebo effect, y’know. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-viagra/588999/5 "2011-07-14T14:12:05Z")
Oh, sorry, when I said “fake,” I meant “possibly the same active ingredient, but not authentic Pfizer-made Viagra”. That was probably unclear. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-viagra/588999/6 "2011-07-14T15:05:05Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > The TH mailer SPAMs her webmail adress book with an ad for a Canadian mail order pharmacy, hawking Viagra and Cialis. Out of curiosity (since I am Canadian), what is the name of the pharmacy? And no, I don’t need the answer fast either! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-viagra/588999/7 "2011-07-14T15:11:08Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Out of curiosity (since I am Canadian), what is the name of the pharmacy? And no, I don’t need the answer fast either! 😃 I’ll look when I get home and get back with you. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-viagra/588999/8 "2011-07-14T15:14:35Z")
> [@chaoticbear](#): > > Oh, sorry, when I said “fake,” I meant “possibly the same active ingredient, but not authentic Pfizer-made Viagra”. That was probably unclear. When I said fake, I meant placebo… ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-viagra/588999/9 "2011-07-14T15:43:49Z")
I don’t see why they couldn’t contain active ingredient. Again, my experience may differ, but the Viagra flush isn’t anything I could attribute to placebo. All of the generic Viagra I’ve bought on the internet was made by Cipla, who makes legitimate, FDA-approved versions of other generic drugs as well. Again, I hate to sound like a shill, but I’ve had good luck with them, and I think there are steps one can take to increase success (buy from reputable websites, not gas stations, stay aware of “too good to be true”, read reviews, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-viagra/588999/10 "2011-07-14T15:56:15Z")
> [@chaoticbear](#): > > I don’t see why they couldn’t contain active ingredient. I don’t, either, but it occurs to me that if the item contained no active ingredient at all, the purchaser might not be so quick to complain as other purchases that turned out to be fake. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-viagra/588999/11 "2011-07-14T21:34:24Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Out of curiosity (since I am Canadian), what is the name of the pharmacy? And no, I don’t need the answer fast either! 😃 The name of the place is “Canadian Neighbor Pharmacy”. All of the spam mails send URLs that seem to be almost randomly generated, but redirect to the same address when you follow them. I won’t re-post it, but I assume anyone can find it with a little Google-fu. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mail-order-viagra/588999/12 "2011-07-14T21:43:55Z")
Answered my own questions… > **[The Canadian Pharmacy - Email hacking / spam](https://www.complaintsboard.com/canadian-neighbor-pharmacy-email-hacking-spam-c348026)** > > For months, Canadian Neighbor Pharmacy spammed my email box with dozens of spams each week; reported to US FCC which stopped them for a while. Now they are back with a vengeance. Two days ago, they hacked into my email account and sent their website... [http://spamtrackers.eu/wiki/index.php/Canadian\_Neighbor\_Pharmacy](http://spamtrackers.eu/wiki/index.php/Canadian_Neighbor_Pharmacy) [http://www.cyveillanceblog.com/general-cyberintel/gmail-online-pharmacy-spam](http://www.cyveillanceblog.com/general-cyberintel/gmail-online-pharmacy-spam)