You have heard and read a great deal 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. However, the issue lies in expense.
But it seems there are other options instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. A text message arrives providing a URL to a site with much cheaper medication – and with no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and forfeit whatever money you paid. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against buying such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in recent months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can entail a serious financial, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
