You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the festive season. The problem is expense.
But it seems alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS comes through giving a link to a website with much cheaper drugs – and with no need to go through official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, prompting you to go for it.
The catch is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and lose any funds you spent. At worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.
The widespread use of authentic slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to simply take people’s money.
Health authorities have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke real harm”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds skyrocketing in recent months,” notes a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority take place on messaging apps and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
These communications or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.
“Buying from unverified sellers online can come at a serious monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
As with all scams, 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 purchasing medications online. These products must only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are correctly licensed.
