You've come across a great deal about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no need to go through proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and lose any funds you paid. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the total sum stolen through scams involving weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams soaring in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most take place on communication platforms and social media. On socials, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can come at a serious monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage holds true: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is properly registered.
