You've come across so much regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and going to the chemist. An SMS arrives giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no need to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you spent. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and scams set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can come at a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to health.
Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
