You have come across so much regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to try them out ahead of the holiday period. The problem is expense.
But it seems there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no need to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has led to a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter , was over twice the total sum stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or logos.
The messages or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a significant monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are properly registered.
