You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, you feel it is time to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and going to the chemist. A text message arrives giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no need to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly scams. At best, you will be sent no product and lose whatever money you paid. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via digital platforms, saying they could contain “harmful substances and additional components that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank show 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 slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a significant financial, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, you can check the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are properly registered.
