You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel it is time to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is expense.
But it seems there are other options instead of getting a prescription and going to the chemist. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a site with more affordable drugs – and requiring no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on social media the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and lose whatever money you paid. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in fake goods hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, saying they could contain “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams related to weight loss injections, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams soaring in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority occur on communication platforms and social media. On socials, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in text or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious monetary, medical and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is correctly licensed.
