You've heard and read a great deal 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 there are other options instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. A text message comes through giving a link to a website with much cheaper drugs – and with no need to navigate official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through digital platforms, stating they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through scams involving weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
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 text or brand marks.
The messages or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a significant monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
