You have come across a great deal about people using slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.
But it seems alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no need to go through official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, prompting you to take the plunge.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and forfeit whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods hitting the market and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, saying they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes 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 seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or logos.
These communications or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: 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. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are properly registered.
