You have come across so much about people using weight loss injections to get slim, it feels like the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on social media the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. At best, you will be sent nothing and lose whatever money you paid. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against buying these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components that could cause real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum stolen through fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious financial, health-related and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site 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 this is properly registered.
