You've heard and read so much about people using slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS comes through giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you paid. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the number of clients who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased recently, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a significant monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy with a valid script provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. 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 they are properly registered.
