You have heard and read so much about people using weight loss injections to get slim, it feels like it is time to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message comes through giving a link to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no necessity to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose any funds you spent. At worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through digital platforms, stating they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may mimic the company that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or logos.
The messages or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can come at a serious monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
