You've heard and read a great deal about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. A text message comes through giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no necessity to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and forfeit any funds you paid. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, 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 hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through digital platforms, stating they might include “toxins and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through scams related to slimming jabs, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling 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 certain authentic slimming injections, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a significant monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, they advise. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are properly registered.
