You have come across a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. A text message comes through providing a URL to a site with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has led to a increase in fake goods hitting the market and scams established to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds skyrocketing in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a significant financial, medical and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are properly registered.
