You have come across so much about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to take the plunge.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and lose any funds you spent. At worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social media. On socials, a profile may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
The messages or updates will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious monetary, medical and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
