You have heard and read so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on online platforms the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and lose any funds you spent. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, stating they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most occur on messaging apps and social media. On socials, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or logos.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is properly registered.
