You've heard and read so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel it is time to give it a go ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable medication – and requiring no necessity to go through official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The problem is these ads are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit any funds you spent. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a increase in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices established to simply take people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, stating they could contain “toxins and additional components that could cause genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum lost to scams involving slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the total sum lost in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, 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, an account may mimic the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
These communications or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the scammers will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a serious monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications online. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist located within Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is properly registered.
