You have come across so much about people using slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is cost.
But it seems alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to go through official channels. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and forfeit whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to simply take people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum lost to scams involving weight loss injections, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few 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 imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in text or logos.
These communications or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
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 highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths 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, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is properly registered.
