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You have heard and read a great deal about people using slimming jabs to get slim, it feels like the moment has come to try them out ahead of the holiday period. However, the issue lies in expense.

Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. A text message arrives providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no need to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, prompting you to take the plunge.

The catch is these ads are almost certainly scams. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose any funds you spent. In the worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.

The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has resulted in a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and deceptive practices set up to simply take people’s money.

Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via social media, saying they could contain “toxins and additional components which may provoke genuine injury”.

New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the quantity of customers who have been affected by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams related to weight loss injections, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter , was more than double the total sum lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.

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

How It Appears

The majority occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, a profile may mimic the company that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.

The messages or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.

With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased of late, the fraudsters will price their “item” lower.

“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a significant monetary, health-related and psychological toll,” warns the security specialist.

Recommended Actions

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

Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. These products must solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to health.

Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an online pharmacy based in the UK, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is properly registered.