Scammers' Counterfeit Goods 'May Lead to Real Harm'
You have heard and read so much about people using 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 cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no need to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive nothing and forfeit any funds you paid. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to simply take people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components that could cause real harm”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the number of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through scams related to slimming jabs, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most take place on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or logos.
These communications or updates will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, 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 emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or online profile 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 ensure they are correctly licensed.
