You've heard and read a great deal 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.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message comes through providing a URL to a site with more affordable medication – and requiring no necessity to go through official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The problem is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and lose any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has led to a increase in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, saying they might include “harmful substances 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 scam. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
Most take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the company that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers online can come at a significant monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is properly registered.
