You have heard and read so much about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel it is time to give it a go ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
But it seems there are other options instead of obtaining a doctor's script and going to the chemist. An SMS comes through giving a link to a website with more affordable medication – and with no necessity to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and lose any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in fake goods hitting the market and scams established to simply take people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, stating they could contain “harmful substances and additional components that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of clients 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 lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was over twice the overall amount lost 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 soaring in recent months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in text or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can entail a serious financial, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
