You have heard and read a great deal 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 festive season. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a site with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have warned against buying such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through digital platforms, saying they could contain “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the total sum stolen through fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority take place on communication platforms and social media. On socials, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, rose recently, the scammers will price their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a significant financial, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, they advise. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are properly registered.
