You've come across a great deal about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with more affordable medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit whatever money you paid. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the total sum stolen through scams involving slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was more than double the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
Most occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the brand that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in text or brand marks.
These communications or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious financial, medical and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are correctly licensed.
