You've come across so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with more affordable medication – and with no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.
The problem is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. At best, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you paid. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has led to a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, stating they might include “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the number of customers who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was more than double the total sum lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the company that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.
These communications or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious financial, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, 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 website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is correctly licensed.
