You've heard and read a great deal about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on online platforms recently, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and lose any funds you spent. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has led to a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against buying these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they could contain “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams related to weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious financial, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are correctly licensed.
