You've come across a great deal about people using weight loss injections to get slim, it feels like it is time to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears 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 site with much cheaper medication – and requiring no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms recently, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent nothing and lose any funds you paid. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has led to a increase in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on communication platforms and social media. 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 frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
