You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like it is time to try them out ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. A text message comes through giving a link to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and lose any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and scams set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, saying they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was more than double the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, an account may mimic the brand that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased recently, the scammers will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are properly registered.
