I am writing this post to try to avoid future issues.
It isn’t something that we want to discuss and would not, in normal circumstances, have posted about. But it is not a deep secret and this is in response to recent events.
Members who were around at the time might well remember some of the issues discussed below.
Background
The TUK forum has now been running for about fourteen years.
One of the things that has always caused problems is members wanting to know how to access prescription-only medicines - mainly Liothyronine and Desiccated Thyroid - without a prescription.
The issue was massively increased when, in 2014, the price of liothyronine rocketed. This led to many of those who had been getting liothyronine on the NHS having their prescriptions stopped.
Alongside this, there has been a general tightening of restrictions in many countries, UK prescriptions are no longer recognised in other countries, etc.
It is no secret that there are people who offer these medicines. Though some are entirely legitimate sources several use a website in another country, or an email address that is passed round.
These websites are sometimes highly anonymised - no real information about the people involved, often not even which country. Fake credentials.
The terms and conditions of HealthUnlocked, and the guidelines of Thyroid UK prohibit posting the names of these sites - in plain text or by hints and nudges. Admins are duty bound to rigorously enforce this
Therefore, the only approach available is for a member who knows of a source to use the Private Message (Chat) system to pass on the details to the member who wants to know.
Suppliers’ Spam
Despite this, the forum has seen vast numbers of posts by people claiming to be sources. And, although admins have no access to private messages between members , there must have been large numbers of Private Messages as well.
Admins have a duty to delete these posts as soon as they are identified.
Admins Protecting Members
Admins have always tried to protect members by identifying suspicious sources. Sources that do not supply what they promise.
Medicines that are not of good quality.
▪️ Sources through which money is taken but nothing is supplied.
▪️ Sources that claim medicines have been sent but they never arrive.
▪️ Being unexpectedly asked for more money to cover bank charges.
▪️ And, quite likely, lots of other issues.
Generally referred to as SCAMMERS. They are associated with certain specific products, sites and countries.
Obviously, SCAMMERS are affected when they are called out publicly or privately - because they cannot continue making so much money.
[ Continued in first reply. ]
Written by
helvella
Administrator
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
At some point around eight years ago, HealthUnlocked’s security failed and let someone who was not an admin, nor a moderator, gained unauthorised access to the admins’ private forum.
That person managed to take a screen video of a part of a discussion among admins about how they were handling these SCAMMERS.
This video was then posted onto YouTube. Since then, SCAMMERS have repeatedly posted and re-posted links to it. However, it has not been mentioned for some considerable time - until now.
Because the video was just raw discussion among admins, it inevitably mentions some member names. If the video had not already been published on YouTube, all these member names would have been kept private. However, the names were almost entirely fictitious accounts, created in order to write fictitious stories about their thyroid health in a way that encouraged self medicating with T3, NDT and weight loss drugs.
And, in the context of desperately trying to handle a flood of posts, sometimes the words used referring to some SCAMMERS and members who refused to follow admin requests would not have been used if intended for publication. But there is nothing that doesn’t frequently occur in regular conversations in real life and online. I think all the words in the video have at times been used by members on the forum - even about themselves!
The description below the video window is nonsensical.
Please realise that taking data from a website when not authorised is likely illegal. Even if you find data innocently, copying it and publishing it could well break the various data protection and computer misuse laws in the UK.
The admins did ask HealthUnlocked to get the video removed from YouTube but, for whatever reasons, that did not happen.
Impact
The SCAMMERS made use of everything they could - including personal health information in the profiles of admins - to conduct a campaign against the admins. They made it appear that admins had been attacking members when the discussion was actually about handling the current onslaught of scammers.
There were repeated claims that admins were making money from selling medicines. That admins were indulging in all sorts of imagined behaviours. They were nasty and vindictive.
Multiple new members were joining day after day solely to continue their campaign. Obviously, they were “reincarnations” of members created by SCAMMERS whose accounts had already been restricted.
Comments such as mentioning a specific brand of medication being available again after being unavailable were distorted as being promotion rather that simply trying to let members know. (No site was identified - just the name of the product.) The return of this make would likely impact their sales hence even mentioning it was seen as a threat to their income.
These personal attacks were vitriolic and deeply upsetting. And they continued for a long time - years.
Recent Activity
The other day, the a current member started posting links to the video, too other members via Private Messages (Chat)..
We suspect that member sending the messages containing the link had the link passed to them by another long-term member.
Then someone (we cannot identify the person) signed up as a brand new member, chose a provocative member name intended to be offensive to admins, and started posting the video link in posts on multiple other HealthUnlocked forums. I cannot but see that as malicious.
Today
Some of this might illuminate why the system of handling requests for information about medicine sources is as it now is. It was developed to try to prevent scammers posting any information. And to encourage members to check with admins before making any transactions. And admins are expressly forbidden from recommending sources themselves.
It is because of this issues that we developed our current medicines warning post.
Of the two admins in the video, one has not been an active member for many years. The other has always been dedicated to doing her best to keep this forum a safe place for all genuine members.
Comments
If you wish to comment on this, please send me, Helvella, a Private Message (Chat). I will pass all comments on to the other admins.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
