You've come across so much about people using weight loss injections to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable medication – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent no product and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through digital platforms, stating they might include “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most occur on communication platforms 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 brand marks.
These communications or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can entail a significant monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. 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 go to great lengths to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are correctly licensed.
