You have come across so much about people using weight loss injections to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.
But it seems alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you spent. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against buying these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, stating they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in recent months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose of late, the scammers will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a significant monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: should something seem overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose serious risks to health.
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 located within the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
