You have heard and read a great deal about people using slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent nothing and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams involving weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or logos.
The messages or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a significant financial, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications online. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are correctly licensed.
