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 holiday period. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. A text message arrives giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no necessity to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit any funds you paid. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and scams set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams related to slimming jabs, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams soaring in recent months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or logos.
These communications or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a significant monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
