You've come across a great deal about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like it is time to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. A text message comes through providing a URL to a site with more affordable medication – and with no necessity to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose whatever money you spent. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has led to a increase in fake goods entering circulation and scams established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams involving slimming jabs, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was more than double the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic 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”.
As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can entail a significant financial, medical and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
