Scammers' Fake Products 'May Lead to Real Harm'

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

Yet it appears there are other options instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, prompting you to go for it.

The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. 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 which may result in serious medical issues.

The widespread use of authentic slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to merely steal people’s money.

Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, saying they could contain “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.

New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.

“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.

What it looks like

Most occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in text or brand marks.

The messages 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, rose of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.

“Buying from unverified sellers online can come at a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.

What to do

Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage applies: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.

Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, they advise. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to health.

Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are properly registered.