You have heard and read a great deal 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. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a site with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity 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 almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and forfeit whatever money you paid. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through scams related to slimming jabs, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be subtle differences in text or brand marks.
The messages or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a significant financial, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, you can check the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is correctly licensed.
