You have come across a great deal about people using weight loss injections to get slim, it feels like it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and going to the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper drugs – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on online platforms the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose any funds you spent. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in fake goods hitting the market and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and additional components that could cause real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a significant monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, you can check the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is properly registered.
