CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa’s Board of Pharmacy is warning of fake prescriptions for opioid painkillers.

The Board sent an alert to pharmacies reporting scammers are using the real credentials of doctors to fill prescriptions for Oxycodone and Promethazine with Codeine. Both drugs are schedule 2 controlled substances and are potentially addictive painkillers when abused.

The Board says the scammers use convincing security paper with providers’ credentials and use “software failure” on the prescription pad to get around electronic prescribing. On some occasions, the violators use a license number from an out-of-state doctor.

The Board says the scammers are targeting pharmacies in Eastern Iowa and that law enforcement has been contacted.