You have come across a great deal about people using slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. An SMS comes through giving a link to a website with more affordable medication – and with no need to go through official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on online platforms the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and forfeit any funds you paid. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in fake goods entering circulation and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the total sum stolen through scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September , was more than double the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority occur on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in text or logos.
These communications or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “product” lower.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a significant financial, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers 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 internet-based chemist located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is correctly licensed.
