You've heard and read so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a site with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and lose whatever money you paid. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in fake goods hitting the market and scams set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the total sum stolen through scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority occur on communication platforms and social networks. On socials, an account may imitate the brand that you are looking for, 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, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a significant financial, medical and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose serious risks to health.
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 the UK, you can check the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is correctly licensed.
