You've come across a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.
The problem is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you paid. At worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has led to a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, stating they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the scam. According to the bank, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority take place on communication platforms and social media. On socials, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or logos.
The messages or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the old adage applies: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are properly registered.
