You have come across a great deal about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, it feels like it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS comes through giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no need to go through official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you spent. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams established 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, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, stating they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the total sum stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in recent months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority take place on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the brand that you seek, 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”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
