You have come across so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a site with more affordable drugs – and requiring no need to go through official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on social media the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. At best, you will be sent no product and lose whatever money 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 counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via digital platforms, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice 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 health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
Most take place on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, a profile may mimic the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage holds true: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is correctly licensed.
