You've heard and read a great deal about people using 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 cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and going to the chemist. An SMS arrives giving a link to a site with much cheaper medication – and with no need to go through official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to take the plunge.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit whatever money you paid. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods hitting the market and scams set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they could contain “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through scams 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. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most take place on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is properly registered.
