You have come across a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to get slim, you feel it is time to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no necessity to go through proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement 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 no product and lose any funds you paid. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has led to a rise in fake goods hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and additional components that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum stolen through fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was more than double the total sum lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority take place on communication platforms and social media. On socials, an account may mimic the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
These communications or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a significant monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, they advise. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are properly registered.
