You have heard and read so much regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through giving a link to a website with more affordable medication – and requiring no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on online platforms the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and forfeit any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, stating they might include “toxins and additional components that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the number of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts 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 networks. On socials, an account may mimic the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
The messages or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can entail a significant monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications online. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
