You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit whatever money you paid. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, stating they could contain “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams involving slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was more than double the total sum stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on communication platforms and social media. On socials, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
These communications or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers online can entail a significant monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, they advise. When procured from other sources, they may pose serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is properly registered.
