You have heard and read so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to get slim, you feel the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is cost.
But it seems there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to go through official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly scams. At best, you will be sent nothing and lose whatever money you paid. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams set up to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was over twice the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers online can come at a significant monetary, medical and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications online. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
