You've 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 holiday period. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable medication – and requiring no need to go through official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media the other day, 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 spent. In the worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to simply take people’s money.
Health authorities have warned against buying such unlawful slimming medications absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, stating they might include “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. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter , was more than double the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the brand that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a significant monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is correctly licensed.
