You've come across so much about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, it feels like it is time to give it a go ahead of the festive season. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS comes through giving a link to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and forfeit whatever money you paid. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams set up to simply take people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, stating they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was more than double the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams soaring in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, an account may mimic the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a significant financial, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters 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 confirm they are correctly licensed.
