Fraudsters' Fake Goods 'Could Cause Serious Damage'
You have come across a great deal about people using weight loss injections to get slim, you feel it is time to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The problem is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and lose any funds you paid. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has led to a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against buying such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they could contain “toxins and additional components that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum lost to scams related to weight loss injections, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims ÂŁ120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
Most occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, a profile may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers online can entail a serious financial, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is properly registered.
