You have heard and read so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel it is time to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with much cheaper medication – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you paid. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, stating they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount 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 such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority take place on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, an account may mimic the brand that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or logos.
These communications or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications online. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, you can check the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is properly registered.
