You've come across so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a site with more affordable medication – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods hitting the market and deceptive practices established to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, saying they could contain “toxins and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
These communications or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a significant monetary, medical and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
