You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable medication – and requiring no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly 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, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has led to a rise in fake goods hitting the market and deceptive practices established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was more than double the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or logos.
These communications or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can entail a serious financial, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are properly registered.
