You have come across a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is cost.
But it seems alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. A text message comes through giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no necessity to go through official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you paid. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, saying they could contain “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was over twice the total sum stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in text or brand marks.
The messages or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers online can entail a significant monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy with a valid script provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is properly registered.
