You have come across so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. A text message arrives providing a URL to a site with more affordable medication – and requiring no need to go through proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and forfeit whatever money you paid. At worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in fake goods entering circulation and scams established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority occur on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased recently, the fraudsters will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage applies: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
