You've heard and read so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to try them out ahead of the holiday period. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. A text message arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable medication – and with no need to go through official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and forfeit any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through digital platforms, saying they could contain “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the number of customers who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum lost to scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority take place on communication platforms and social networks. On socials, an account may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.
These communications or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a significant monetary, medical and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
