You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and going to the chemist. A text message arrives giving a link to a site with much cheaper medication – and requiring no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, prompting you to go for it.
The catch 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. At worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams involving slimming jabs, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters 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.
How It Appears
Most occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may mimic the company that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or logos.
The messages or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased recently, the scammers will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious financial, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, they advise. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
