You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with much cheaper drugs – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. At best, you will be sent nothing and forfeit whatever money you paid. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum stolen in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, a profile may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
These communications or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased recently, the fraudsters will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a significant financial, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are properly registered.
