You've come across so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent nothing and forfeit whatever money you paid. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, stating they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, 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”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can come at a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage applies: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site 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 website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are properly registered.
