You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to get slim, you feel it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no need to navigate official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against buying such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, saying they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the number of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam 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.
What it looks like
Most take place on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can come at a significant financial, medical and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
