You've come across so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, 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 chemist. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no need to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on social media the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive nothing and forfeit whatever money you paid. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation 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 through social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through scams involving slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was over twice the total sum lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most occur on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or logos.
The messages or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a significant monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are correctly licensed.
