You've come across a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly scams. At best, you will be sent no product and forfeit any funds you paid. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum stolen through scams related to slimming jabs, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was more than double the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds skyrocketing in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social media. On socials, a profile may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be subtle differences in text or brand marks.
The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the scammers will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can come at a serious monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are correctly licensed.
