You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like it is time to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no need to go through official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you paid. In the worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has led to a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the total sum stolen through fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum stolen in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a serious financial, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is properly registered.
