You have heard and read a great deal about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel it is time to try them out ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to go through proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent nothing and forfeit whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the number of customers who have been affected by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most occur on communication platforms and social networks. On socials, an account may mimic the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious financial, medical and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist 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 design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is correctly licensed.
