You've heard and read so much regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the festive season. The problem is cost.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on social media the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and lose any funds you paid. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or via digital platforms, saying they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority occur on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious financial, medical and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are properly registered.
