You've come across so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a site with more affordable drugs – 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 such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you paid. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against buying such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, 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 high street bank show a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the total sum stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
Most take place on communication platforms and social media. On socials, an account may imitate the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
The messages or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a significant financial, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, they advise. When procured from other sources, they can present 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 online pharmacy located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is correctly licensed.
