Fraudsters' Fake Goods 'Could Cause Serious Damage'
You have heard and read a great deal 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 holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through giving a link to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no need to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on social media the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods hitting the market and scams established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams soaring in recent months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority occur on communication platforms and social media. On socials, a profile may mimic the company that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or logos.
The messages or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications online. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are correctly licensed.
