You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like it is time to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no necessity to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on social media the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the number of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the scammers will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a significant financial, health-related and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, 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 via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
