You've come across 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 festive season. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly scams. At best, you will be sent no product and lose whatever money you spent. In the worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they could contain “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum stolen through scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was more than double the total sum lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
Most take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic 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 “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a significant monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage applies: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
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. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is correctly licensed.
