Scammers' Counterfeit Products 'May Lead to Real Harm'

You have heard and read so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.

But it seems alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message comes through giving a link to a website with more affordable medication – and with no necessity to go through official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.

The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive no product and forfeit any funds you spent. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.

The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in fake goods entering circulation and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.

Health authorities have advised avoiding buying such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they could contain “toxins and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.

New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.

“Fraudsters 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.

How It Appears

Most occur on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or logos.

These communications or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.

With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.

“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a significant financial, health-related and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.

What to do

As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.

Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose serious risks to wellbeing.

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 website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.