You have heard and read so much regarding the use of 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 rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. A text message comes through giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on social media the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be scams. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose whatever money you paid. At worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams established to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, stating they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through scams related to weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was more than double the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social media. On socials, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in text or logos.
These communications 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, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can come at a serious financial, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
