You've come across so much about people using weight loss injections to get slim, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
But it seems there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The problem is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent no product and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in fake goods hitting the market and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, stating they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum stolen through scams related to slimming jabs, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the total sum stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a significant financial, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities 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 can present significant dangers to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
