You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to get slim, it feels like the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with more affordable drugs – and requiring no need to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit any funds you paid. At worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, stating they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity 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 between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.
These communications or updates will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a significant financial, medical and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, 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 extremely cautious when buying medicines online. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, you can check the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is correctly licensed.
