You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to get slim, it feels like the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website 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 take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you paid. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a increase in fake goods entering circulation and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, stating they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the scam. According to the bank, the total sum stolen through fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the total sum stolen in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a serious financial, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is properly registered.
