You've come across a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to get slim, you feel it is time to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no necessity to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, prompting you to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit any funds you spent. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “harmful substances and additional components that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was over twice the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
Most take place on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage holds true: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page 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 correctly licensed.
