You have heard and read a great deal about people using slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no necessity to go through official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on online platforms the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components 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 scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was over twice the total sum lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications online. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is correctly licensed.
