You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with more affordable drugs – and requiring no necessity to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent no product and forfeit whatever money you paid. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against buying these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, stating they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the number of customers who have been affected by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams soaring in recent months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may mimic the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a serious financial, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
