You have heard and read a great deal about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through giving a link to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent nothing and lose whatever money you spent. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was more than double the total sum lost in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
The majority occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be subtle differences in text or logos.
These communications or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the scammers will price their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are properly registered.
