You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable medication – and with no necessity to go through official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be scams. At best, you will be sent nothing and lose whatever money you paid. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and additional components that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the total sum lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most take place on communication platforms and social networks. On socials, an account may mimic the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or logos.
The messages or updates will frequently 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” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious financial, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage applies: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
