You've 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 ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
But it seems alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. A text message comes through giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no necessity to go through official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and forfeit any funds you paid. At worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through digital platforms, saying they could contain “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures 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 amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.
These communications or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious financial, health-related and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications online. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose 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 Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is properly registered.
