Scammers' Fake Products 'May Lead to Serious Damage'
You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel it is time to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.
Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a site with more affordable medication – and requiring no need to go through official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, prompting you to take the plunge.
The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent no product and forfeit whatever money you spent. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to serious medical issues.
The popularity of authentic slimming drugs has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams established to merely steal people’s money.
Health authorities have warned against buying these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via social media, saying they could contain “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.
Recent statistics from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.
How It Appears
The majority take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the brand that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or logos.
These communications or updates will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.
As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” more cheaply.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.
Recommended Actions
Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: if it appears overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.
Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. They should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose serious risks to health.
Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.
