Scammers' Fake Products 'Could Cause Serious Damage'
You have come across so much about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no necessity to go through proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you paid. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has led to a increase in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against buying these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was more than double the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds skyrocketing in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most take place on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, an account may mimic the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased of late, the scammers will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a serious financial, medical and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications online. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist 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 design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
