You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like it is time to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable medication – and with no need to go through proper procedures. 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 fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent no product and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through digital platforms, stating they could contain “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams involving slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the total sum lost in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a significant monetary, medical and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage applies: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
