You've heard and read so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, it feels like it is time to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and requiring no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to take the plunge.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has led to a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to simply take people’s money.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, stating they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or logos.
The messages or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious financial, medical and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications online. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
