You have come across a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no need to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly scams. At best, you will be sent no product and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in fake goods hitting the market and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “harmful substances and additional components that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the total sum lost to scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was over twice the total sum lost in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most occur on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the brand that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
These communications or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose serious risks to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are correctly licensed.
