You've heard and read so much about people using 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 cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. A text message comes through providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no need to go through official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. At best, you will be sent no product and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the total sum stolen through scams involving weight loss injections, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most take place on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.
These communications or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “item” lower.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can come at a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications online. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are correctly licensed.
