You've heard and read so much regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is expense.
But it seems there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. A text message comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you paid. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has led to a increase in fake goods hitting the market and scams established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, saying they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers online can entail a serious financial, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state 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.
