You've come across so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel it is time to try them out ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no necessity to go through official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, prompting you to take the plunge.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, 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 increase in fake goods entering circulation and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, stating they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the total sum stolen through scams involving slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was more than double the total sum lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic the brand that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in text or brand marks.
The messages or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a significant monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
