You have come across a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, you feel it is time to try them out ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of getting a prescription and going to the chemist. A text message arrives providing a URL to a site with more affordable medication – and with no necessity to go through official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and lose any funds you spent. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in fake goods 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 beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was more than double the total sum stolen in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or logos.
The messages or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers online can come at a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are properly registered.
