You have come across so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is expense.
But it seems there are other options instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with much cheaper drugs – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a similar ad on social media the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is such promotions are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and lose whatever money you paid. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has led to a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a significant surge in the number of clients who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams related to weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was more than double the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, an account may imitate the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or logos.
These communications or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage applies: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.
Criminals can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim 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 this is correctly licensed.
