You've heard and read a great deal about people using slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper drugs – and with no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be scams. At best, you'll receive no product and forfeit any funds you paid. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams established to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through scams involving weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the total sum stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, 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, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or logos.
These communications or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a serious financial, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
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, you can check the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are correctly licensed.
