You have come across so much 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. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be scams. At best, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you paid. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, stating they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a significant monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage 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 online. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy with a valid script provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are correctly licensed.
