You have come across a great deal about people using slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no need to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and lose whatever money you spent. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in fake goods entering circulation and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against buying such unlawful slimming medications absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, a profile may imitate the company that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in text or brand marks.
The messages or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can come at a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths 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 online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
