You've come across a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel it is time to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is cost.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no necessity to go through official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and forfeit any funds you paid. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic slimming drugs has led to a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, stating they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the scam. According to the bank, the total sum lost to scams involving weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can come at a significant monetary, medical and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are correctly licensed.
