You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like it is time to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. An SMS comes through giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices established to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the total sum stolen through fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was over twice the total sum stolen in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, an account may mimic the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
These communications or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious monetary, medical and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage holds true: 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. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are correctly licensed.
