You have come across so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to 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 comes through providing a URL to a site with more affordable medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you spent. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have warned against buying these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted 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 over twice the total sum lost in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in recent months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on communication platforms and social networks. On socials, a profile may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
These communications or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious financial, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, you can check the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is properly registered.
