You've come across a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is cost.
But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a site with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no need to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you will be sent no product and lose whatever money you spent. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, stating they might include “harmful substances and additional components that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the total sum stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most take place on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, a profile 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 often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.
“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within Great Britain, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is properly registered.
