You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and going to the chemist. An SMS comes through giving a link to a site with much cheaper medication – and requiring no need to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.
The problem is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you spent. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, stating they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the total sum stolen in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most occur on communication platforms and social media. On socials, an account may imitate the brand that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, 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 purchasing medications online. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths 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, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are properly registered.
