You have come across a great deal about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel it is time to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a site with more affordable drugs – and requiring no necessity to go through proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you spent. At worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against buying such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was more than double the total sum lost in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or logos.
The messages or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, 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 based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
