You have heard and read so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the festive season. The problem is cost.
But it seems there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad 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'll receive nothing and lose any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in fake goods hitting the market and deceptive practices established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against buying these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or logos.
These communications 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 of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a significant financial, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is correctly licensed.
