You've heard and read so much about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, it feels like it is time to try them out ahead of the holiday period. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. A text message arrives giving a link to a site with more affordable medication – and with no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. At best, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you spent. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a increase in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, stating they could contain “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams involving slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was more than double the total sum stolen in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious financial, medical and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are correctly licensed.
