Fraudsters' Fake Products 'May Lead to Real Harm'
You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to get slim, you feel it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. A text message comes through providing a URL to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no necessity to go through proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, stating they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum stolen through scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority take place on messaging apps and social media. On socials, a profile may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or logos.
The messages or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased recently, the scammers will price their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious financial, health-related and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned 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 healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. 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 confirm they are properly registered.
