Scammers' Fake Products 'May Lead to Serious Damage'

You have come across so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, it feels like it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.

But it seems there are other options rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. A text message comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable medication – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms the other day, prompting you to go for it.

The catch is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent no product and lose any funds you spent. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.

The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to merely steal consumers' cash.

Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.

New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter , was more than double the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.

“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.

What it looks like

Most occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.

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

As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.

“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.

What to do

Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.

Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose serious risks to health.

Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is properly registered.