You've heard and read 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. However, the issue lies in cost.
But it seems there are other options rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on social media the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly scams. At best, you will be sent no product and lose any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the number of clients who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the total sum lost to scams involving weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was more than double the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most take place on communication platforms and social networks. On socials, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or logos.
The messages or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “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” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can come at a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the old adage applies: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
