You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like it is time to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the chemist. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you paid. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, stating they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
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 amount of money lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most occur on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be subtle differences in text or brand marks.
The messages or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers online can entail a serious financial, health-related and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is properly registered.
