You've heard and read a great deal about people using weight loss injections to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and going to the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no necessity to go through proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly scams. At best, you will be sent nothing and lose any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through digital platforms, stating they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through scams involving slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.
These communications or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a significant monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, you can check the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are correctly licensed.
