You have come across a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel it is time to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message comes through giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to go through proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose whatever money you paid. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was more than double the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams soaring in recent months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
What it looks like
The majority occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic the brand that you are looking for, but you'll often notice subtle differences in text or logos.
These communications or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of certain authentic slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can come at a serious monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage applies: 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. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to wellbeing.
Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy located within the UK, you can check the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is correctly licensed.