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 try them out in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is expense.
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 more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and forfeit whatever money you spent. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was more than double the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting 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. On socials, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
These communications or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
