You've heard and read so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel it is time to give it a go ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no necessity to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on online platforms the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and additional components that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams soaring in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
Most occur on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the brand that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or posts will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a significant monetary, medical and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, 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 registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is properly registered.
