You've heard and read a great deal about people using weight loss injections to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is cost.
But it seems there are other options instead of getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to go through proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and lose whatever money you spent. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via digital platforms, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum lost to scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter , was over twice the total sum lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social media. On socials, an account may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers online can come at a significant monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications online. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are correctly licensed.
