Scammers' Fake Goods 'May Lead to Serious Damage'

You have come across so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is cost.

But it seems alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. A text message comes through giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.

The problem is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit any funds you spent. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.

The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.

Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.

New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.

“Fraudsters are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.

How It Appears

The majority occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.

The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.

With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose recently, the scammers will price their “product” more cheaply.

“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.

What to do

As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.

Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy with a valid script provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, 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 online pharmacy located within the UK, you can check the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are properly registered.