You have heard and read so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no need to go through official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, prompting you to take the plunge.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and lose any funds you spent. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, stating they could contain “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum lost to scams involving weight loss injections, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was over twice the total sum lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“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.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or logos.
The messages or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page 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.
