Fraudsters' Counterfeit Goods 'Could Cause Real Harm'
You have heard and read so much about people using slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like it is time to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.
Yet it appears there are other options instead of getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to navigate proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.
The catch 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. In the worst, you receive a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.
The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices established to merely steal consumers' cash.
Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via digital platforms, saying they could contain “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.
New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through scams related to slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.
“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams soaring in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.
How It Appears
The majority occur on messaging apps and social networks. On socials, a profile may mimic the company that you seek, 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 “complimentary gift”.
With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” lower.
“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.
What to do
As with all scams, the old adage holds true: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.
Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription 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 online profile appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is correctly licensed.
