You've heard and read so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel it is time to give it a go ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no necessity to go through proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent nothing and lose whatever money you paid. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams 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, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, saying they might include “toxins and additional components that could cause genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams involving slimming jabs, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority occur on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the brand that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.
These communications or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can come at a significant financial, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage holds true: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose serious risks to health.
Fraudsters 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 based in the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
