Fraudsters' Fake Goods 'May Lead to Real Harm'
You've heard and read a great deal about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel it is time to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no need to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke 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. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams related to slimming jabs, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was more than double the total sum lost in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in recent months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority take place 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 logos.
The messages or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a significant monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
