You've heard and read so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with more affordable medication – and with no necessity to go through official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, prompting you to take the plunge.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via digital platforms, stating they might include “toxins and additional components that could cause real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams involving slimming jabs, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in text or logos.
These communications or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious financial, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage holds true: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
