You have come across a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no need to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you spent. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum stolen through fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the total sum stolen in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on messaging apps and social media. On socials, a profile may mimic the company that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or logos.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a serious financial, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
