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 in the run-up to the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no need to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to take the plunge.
The problem is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent nothing and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through digital platforms, stating they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams related to weight loss injections, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
Most occur on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic the company that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious financial, health-related and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
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. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
