You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel it is time to try them out ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no necessity to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. At best, you'll receive nothing and forfeit whatever money you paid. At worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying such unlawful slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams soaring in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur 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.
The messages or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. 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 significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are correctly licensed.
