You have come across a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose any funds you spent. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has led to a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they could contain “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams involving weight loss injections, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
Most occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may imitate the brand that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in text or logos.
The messages or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can entail a serious financial, medical and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. They should 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 go to great lengths to design their webpage or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
