You have come across so much regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like it is time to try them out ahead of the holiday period. The problem is cost.
But it seems there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the chemist. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a site with more affordable medication – and with no need to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. At best, you will be sent nothing and lose any funds you paid. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they could contain “toxins and additional components that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum stolen through scams related to weight loss injections, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the total sum lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams soaring in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most take place on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
These communications or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious financial, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
