You have heard and read a great deal about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel it is time to give it a go ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. A text message comes through giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and requiring no necessity to go through proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive nothing and forfeit any funds you paid. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take people’s money.
Health authorities have warned against buying these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, stating they could contain “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the total sum stolen through fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most occur on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be subtle differences in text or logos.
The messages or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can come at a significant financial, medical and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is properly registered.
