You have heard and read so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to get slim, it feels like it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. A text message comes through providing a URL to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no necessity to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against buying these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or logos.
These communications or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can come at a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, you can check the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is properly registered.
