You have come across a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to try them out ahead of the holiday period. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through giving a link to a site with more affordable drugs – and requiring 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 catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and forfeit any funds you paid. At worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices established to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they could contain “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the number of clients who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or logos.
These communications or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can come at a significant financial, medical and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
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 cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is correctly licensed.
