You have come across so much regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
But it seems alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no necessity to go through official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices established to simply take people’s money.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, saying they could contain “toxins and additional components that could cause real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a significant surge in the number of clients who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams involving weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters 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 messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may imitate the brand that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can come at a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is properly registered.
