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You have come across so much about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, it feels like it is time to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.

Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper drugs – and requiring no necessity to go through official channels. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms recently, prompting you to take the plunge.

The problem is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you paid. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.

The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in fake goods entering circulation and scams established to merely steal consumers' cash.

Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, saying they might include “toxins and additional components that could cause real harm”.

New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through scams involving weight loss injections, pens, tablets and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the previous three months. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.

“Scammers are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.

How It Appears

The majority take place on messaging apps and social media. On socials, a profile may mimic the brand that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.

The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.

With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.

“Buying from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a serious monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” says the security specialist.

Recommended Actions

Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying applies: if it appears too good to be true, then it probably is.

Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.

Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or social media page appear completely genuine. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are correctly licensed.