You've come across so much about people using slimming jabs to get slim, you feel it is time to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. A text message comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable medication – and with no need to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.
The problem is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you paid. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has led to a increase in fake goods hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists 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 show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
Most take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or logos.
The messages or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the scammers will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can entail a serious financial, medical and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
