You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is cost.
But it seems there are other options instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to go for it.
The problem is these ads are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you spent. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has led to a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have warned against purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, stating they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter , was more than double the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, an account may imitate the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.
The messages or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unverified sellers online can entail a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
As with all scams, the wise saying applies: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy with a valid script provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are properly registered.
