You've come across so much about people using slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a site with more affordable medication – and with no necessity to go through official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and scams set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against buying these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams involving slimming jabs, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the overall amount lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams soaring in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority occur on communication platforms and social networks. On socials, a profile may imitate the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers online can entail a serious financial, medical and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the old adage applies: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
