You've heard and read so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, 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 rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The problem is these ads are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and forfeit any funds you paid. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in fake goods hitting the market and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams involving slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was more than double the total sum lost in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, 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 brand that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or logos.
The messages or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a significant financial, medical and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is properly registered.
