You have heard and read a great deal about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like it is time to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable medication – and with no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is these ads are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose any funds you paid. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has led to a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Health authorities have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or via digital platforms, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the number of customers who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.
“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most take place on messaging apps and social media. On socials, a profile may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.
These communications or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose serious risks to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are properly registered.