You have heard and read so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel it is time to try them out in the run-up to the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the chemist. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable medication – and with no necessity to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to take the plunge.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly scams. At best, you will be sent no product and lose whatever money you paid. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods hitting the market and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the total sum lost to scams related to weight loss injections, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was more than double the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.
What it looks like
Most take place on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose of late, the scammers will price their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a serious monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage holds true: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are correctly licensed.
