Last updated: May 28, 2026
The GLP-1 market has exploded, and so have illegitimate sellers offering counterfeit, improperly compounded, or completely fake medications. The FDA has issued multiple warning letters to unapproved GLP-1 sellers over the past two years, and the agency has flagged compounded semaglutide products that don't meet safety standards.
Consumers are right to be cautious. The price difference between a legitimate telehealth provider and a scam site can look superficially small — until you receive a product with no proper labeling, no clear ingredient list, and no way to trace it back to a licensed pharmacy. The damage from a bad GLP-1 purchase is health damage, not just a refund headache.
This guide gives you a working checklist to verify any GLP-1 provider before you give them money or personal health information. We've also published our internal verification snapshot for the providers we link to in the comparison tool — below. Verification doesn't equal endorsement — do your own due diligence regardless.
Work through these six steps for any provider you're considering. None of them require special expertise — just a few minutes with the official lookup tools below.
Any single one of these is reason to walk away. Two or more, and you're almost certainly looking at a scam.
These are the providers featured in our comparison tool. For each, we've confirmed business registration and that they operate as licensed telehealth platforms with real prescribers and licensed-pharmacy fulfillment.
Government and standards-body tools you can use to verify any provider, pharmacy, or medication. All open in new tabs.
Work through the six-step checklist on this page: check the FDA warning letter database, verify state pharmacy licensing via NABP, confirm a named licensed prescriber reviews your medical history, look up the business on your Secretary of State registry or BBB.org, confirm the provider requires a real prescription, and inspect any medication you receive for FDA-approved labels from the manufacturer with your name and prescriber on the pharmacy label.
Top warning signs: no medical questionnaire or prescriber consultation, prices far below market rate, no verifiable pharmacy license or prescriber credentials, no clear cancellation/refund policy, high-pressure urgency tactics, claims of "exclusive" formulations, plain or foreign-language packaging on received medication, no physical address or About page, payment by crypto or wire transfer only, and unsolicited social-media or email ads selling GLP-1s without a prescription.
Yes, when the provider is a licensed telehealth platform that requires a real medical questionnaire, has a named licensed prescriber sign off on your prescription, and fills through a state-licensed pharmacy. Major telehealth providers like Hims, Ro, Noom Med, and the others verified on this page meet those criteria. The risk is not telehealth itself -- it's illegitimate sellers who skip those steps.
Use the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) state-board directory at nabp.pharmacy/members/boards-of-pharmacy/ to find your state's pharmacy licensing board, then look up the pharmacy by name. NABP's safe.pharmacy site also lists VIPPS-accredited online pharmacies. Verify the license is active in YOUR state, not just the state the pharmacy is based in.
Stop using it immediately and don't dispose of it -- you'll need it for any investigation. Report to the FDA MedWatch program (fda.gov/safety/medwatch), file an FTC complaint at reportfraud.ftc.gov, and contact your prescriber to discuss what to do next. If you paid by credit card, contact your card issuer to dispute the charge. If you have safety concerns, contact your doctor or poison control (1-800-222-1222).
Compounded medications occupy a different regulatory category from FDA-approved drugs. FDA-registered 503B outsourcing facilities can legally compound certain medications during drug shortages, and 503A pharmacies can compound on a per-prescription basis. Compounded products are NOT FDA-approved, and the FDA has issued warnings about some compounded semaglutide products. Check whether your specific medication comes from a 503B facility (more oversight) vs. a 503A pharmacy. The GLP-1 shortage situation has been evolving -- check FDA.gov for the current status of any specific drug shortage before relying on compounded as a long-term option.
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Sources: TrumpRx.gov, GoodRx, NovoCare, LillyDirect, CMS, KFF, FDA.gov