You've come across so much regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel 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 obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no necessity to go through official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a increase in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “toxins and additional components that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
Most occur on communication platforms and social media. On socials, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a significant financial, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is correctly licensed.
