You've 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 ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper drugs – and with no need to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on social media the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in fake goods hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, saying they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum stolen in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams soaring in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or logos.
The messages or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased recently, the scammers will price their “product” lower.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can come at a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are correctly licensed.
