You've come across a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel it is time to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is expense.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with more affordable drugs – and with no need to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is these ads are highly likely to be scams. At best, you will be sent nothing and forfeit any funds you paid. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, stating they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the number of customers who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum stolen through scams involving weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was over twice the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or logos.
The messages or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can come at a significant financial, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines online. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to health.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are correctly licensed.
