You have 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 getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable medication – and with no need to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The problem is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they could contain “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority occur on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, an account may mimic the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
The messages or updates will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, rose of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious financial, medical and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
