🔗 Share this article

You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is cost.

But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and going to the chemist. An SMS comes through giving a link to a website with much cheaper medication – and requiring no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.

The problem is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you will be sent nothing and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.

The widespread use of legitimate slimming drugs has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and scams established to simply take people’s money.

Health authorities have warned against purchasing such unlawful slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, stating they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.

Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the quantity of customers who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.

“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.

How It Appears

Most take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or logos.

These communications or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.

As the price of some legitimate slimming injections, rose recently, the scammers will price their “product” lower.

“Buying from unverified sellers online can entail a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.

Recommended Actions

As with all scams, the wise saying applies: should something seem too good to be true, then it probably is.

Medical authorities have warned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to health.

Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are properly registered.