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You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to try them out ahead of the festive season. The problem is cost.

Yet it appears there are other options instead of obtaining a doctor's script and going to the chemist. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on social media the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.

The catch is such promotions are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and forfeit any funds you paid. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to serious medical issues.

The popularity of authentic weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in fake goods hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.

Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.

New figures from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams related to weight loss injections, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September , was more than double the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.

“Fraudsters are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.

How It Appears

The majority take place on communication platforms and social networks. On socials, a profile may mimic the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.

These communications or updates will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.

As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, rose of late, the scammers will price their “item” lower.

“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious financial, medical and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.

What to do

Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: if it appears too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.

Medical authorities have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications online. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, 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 internet-based chemist based in the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.