You have come across so much about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. A text message comes through providing a URL to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and lose any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods hitting the market and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against buying such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, saying they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a significant surge in the number of customers who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams involving slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or logos.
The messages or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, they advise. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
