You have come across a great deal about people using slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like it is time to try them out ahead of the holiday period. The problem is cost.
Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and going to the chemist. A text message arrives giving a link to a website with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to go through proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on online platforms the other day, so you decide to go for it.
The problem is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and forfeit whatever money you spent. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, stating they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the total sum lost to fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was more than double the total sum stolen in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
Most occur on communication platforms and social media. On socials, a profile may imitate the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.
The messages or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a significant monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: should something seem overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued 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 appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is properly registered.
