You have 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 in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. A text message comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, 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 nothing and lose whatever money you paid. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected by the scam. According to the bank, the total sum stolen through fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter , was over twice the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious monetary, medical and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters 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 based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.
