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You've come across so much regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.

But it seems there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a site with much cheaper medication – and with no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.

The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose whatever money you spent. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.

The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to merely steal consumers' cash.

Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, saying they could contain “toxins and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.

New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum stolen through scams involving 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. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.

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

How It Appears

Most take place on communication platforms and social media. On socials, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or logos.

The messages or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.

With the cost of certain authentic weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.

“Purchasing from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a significant monetary, medical and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.

What to do

As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.

Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant 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 wellbeing.

Fraudsters can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page appear completely genuine. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure this is properly registered.