You have 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 in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a site with much cheaper medication – and with no necessity to go through proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent no product and lose any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in fake goods hitting the market and scams set up to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures 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 slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was more than double the total sum lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most occur on messaging apps and social media. On socials, an account may mimic the brand that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in text or logos.
The messages or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious financial, medical and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are properly registered.
