You've heard and read so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of getting a prescription and going to the chemist. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit any funds you paid. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have warned against buying such unlawful slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams involving slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams soaring in recent months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most occur on messaging apps and social media. On socials, a profile may imitate the brand that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
These communications or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can come at a significant monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is properly registered.
