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You've come across a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.

But it seems alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and going to the pharmacy. A text message comes through providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no need to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.

The catch is these ads are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you paid. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.

The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in fake goods hitting the market and deceptive practices established to simply take people’s money.

Health authorities have warned against buying such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, stating they could contain “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke genuine injury”.

New figures from a high street bank show a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams related to weight loss injections, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.

“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams soaring in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.

How It Appears

The majority occur on communication platforms and social media. On socials, an account may mimic the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.

These communications or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.

As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, has increased recently, the fraudsters will price their “item” more cheaply.

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

What to do

As with all scams, the old adage applies: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.

Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications online. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to health.

Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm they are properly registered.