You've heard and read a great deal about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to go through official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent no product and lose any funds you paid. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in fake goods hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, saying they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was over twice the total sum lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds skyrocketing in recent months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a significant financial, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state 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 correctly licensed.
