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You have come across so much about people using weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel it is time to give it a go ahead of the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.

Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message comes through providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and requiring no necessity to go through official channels. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms recently, so you decide to go for it.

The problem is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.

The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to simply take consumers' cash.

Medical regulators have advised avoiding buying such unlawful slimming medications absent a doctor's order from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, saying they could contain “toxins and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.

Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to scams involving weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the total sum stolen in the prior quarter. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, it says.

“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.

How It Appears

The majority take place on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but you'll often notice slight variations in text or brand marks.

These communications or posts will often use pressure-inducing language such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.

With the cost of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose of late, the scammers will price their “item” more cheaply.

“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can come at a significant financial, health-related and psychological toll,” 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.

Health regulators have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications online. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to wellbeing.

Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, you can check the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are correctly licensed.