You've heard and read a great deal about people using weight loss injections to get slim, 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 obtaining a doctor's script and going to the chemist. An SMS arrives giving a link to a site with more affordable medication – and with no need to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit whatever money you spent. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in fake goods hitting the market and deceptive practices established to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, stating they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter , was more than double the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes 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 imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or logos.
The messages or posts will frequently 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 fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious financial, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters 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 online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is properly registered.
