You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you spent. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a increase in fake goods hitting the market and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through digital platforms, saying they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the number of clients who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities involving 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. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, an account may mimic the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
These communications or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
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 only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site 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 confirm they are correctly licensed.
