Scammers' Counterfeit Products 'May Lead to Serious Damage'
You have heard and read a great deal about people using weight loss injections to get slim, it feels like it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a site with more affordable drugs – and with no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent no product and lose whatever money you paid. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has led to a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through digital platforms, stating they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was more than double the total sum stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on messaging apps and social media. On socials, a profile may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or logos.
The messages or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can come at a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is properly registered.
