You've come across so much regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives giving a link to a site with more affordable drugs – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in fake goods entering circulation and scams set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and additional components that could cause genuine injury”.
New figures from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic the brand that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.
The messages or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose of late, the scammers will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious financial, medical and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, you can check the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are correctly licensed.
