You've heard and read so much regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the festive season. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no need to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. At best, you'll receive nothing and forfeit any funds you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, saying they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority occur on communication platforms and social networks. On socials, a profile may imitate the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
The messages or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, rose of late, the scammers will price their “item” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a significant monetary, medical and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are properly registered.
