You've heard and read so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to get slim, you feel it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against buying such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through digital platforms, saying they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum stolen through fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority take place on communication platforms 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 brand marks.
These communications or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can come at a significant monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is properly registered.
