Fraudsters' Fake Goods 'Could Cause Serious Damage'
You've heard and read so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.
But it seems alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. A text message comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable medication – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive no product and forfeit any funds you paid. In the worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams established to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through scams involving slimming jabs, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers ÂŁ120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may mimic the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a significant monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. They should solely be acquired 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.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are properly registered.
