You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like it is time to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
But it seems alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no need 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 highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent no product and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
Most occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, an account may mimic the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
These communications or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can come at a significant financial, health-related and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
