You've heard and read a great deal about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a site with much cheaper medication – and with no necessity to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive nothing and forfeit whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against buying such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, stating they could contain “toxins and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams involving weight loss injections, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social media. On socials, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in text or brand marks.
These communications or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can come at a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, they advise. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
