You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no necessity to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you paid. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, stating they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority occur on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic the brand that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a significant financial, medical and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script provided by a healthcare professional, they advise. When procured from other sources, they may pose serious risks to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is properly registered.
