You've come across a great deal about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is cost.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the chemist. An SMS arrives giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no necessity to go through proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you paid. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of authentic slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected 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 , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. 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.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social media. On socials, an account may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided 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 social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are properly registered.
