You've heard and read a great deal about people using slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like it is time to try them out ahead of the holiday period. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no necessity to go through official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.
The problem is these ads are highly likely to be scams. At best, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in fake goods entering circulation and scams established to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, stating they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was over twice the total sum lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in recent months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or logos.
The messages or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can entail a significant financial, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications online. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
