You've come across so much about people using slimming jabs to get slim, you feel it is time to give it a go ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no need to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent no product and forfeit any funds you spent. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against buying such unlawful slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority occur on communication platforms and social media. On socials, a profile may imitate the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
These communications or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose of late, the scammers will price their “item” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious financial, health-related and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
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 extremely cautious when purchasing medications online. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is correctly licensed.
