You have come across so much about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel it is time to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. An SMS comes through giving a link to a website with more affordable medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent nothing and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in fake goods hitting the market and deceptive practices established to simply take people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, saying they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams involving slimming jabs, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was over twice the total sum lost in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with such frauds 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, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or logos.
These communications or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, you can check the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are correctly licensed.
