You have come across a great deal about people using slimming jabs to get slim, you feel it is time to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with much cheaper medication – and with no need to go through official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit any funds you paid. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market 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 via social media, saying they could contain “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the number of clients who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was more than double the overall amount lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority occur on communication platforms and social media. On socials, a profile may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in text or brand marks.
The messages or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
