You have 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 in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a site with more affordable drugs – and with no need to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The problem is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. At best, you will be sent nothing and forfeit any funds you paid. At worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against buying such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority take place on messaging apps and social media. On socials, a profile may mimic the company that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or logos.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to health.
Criminals 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 based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are properly registered.
