You have heard and read a great deal about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and lose whatever money you spent. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they could contain “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the total sum stolen through fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
These communications or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a significant financial, medical and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage applies: should something seem overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
