Fraudsters' Counterfeit Goods 'Could Cause Serious Damage'
You have heard and read so much regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like it is time to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and going to the chemist. A text message arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in fake goods hitting the market and scams established to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams involving weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
These communications or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers online can come at a significant monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are properly registered.
