You've heard and read so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you paid. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines 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 high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through scams involving slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.
These communications or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, they advise. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is properly registered.
