Scammers' Fake Goods 'May Lead to Real Harm'
You have come across a great deal about people using weight loss injections to get slim, it feels like it is time to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
But it seems alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and going to the chemist. A text message comes through giving a link to a site with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to go through official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. At best, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you spent. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they could contain “toxins and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in recent months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist 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 appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, you can check the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is correctly licensed.
