You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.
But it seems there are other options rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable medication – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and forfeit any funds you spent. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has led to a increase in fake goods hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against buying these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, stating they could contain “harmful substances and additional components that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was over twice the total sum lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most take place on communication platforms and social media. On socials, an account may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in text or brand marks.
The messages or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications online. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
