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You've heard and read a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, it feels like it is time to give it a go ahead of the festive season. The problem is cost.

But it seems alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and going to the chemist. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. You also noticed a similar ad on social media the other day, so you decide to go for it.

The catch is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components that could lead to severe health problems.

The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in fake goods entering circulation and deceptive practices set up to simply take consumers' cash.

Health authorities have warned against buying such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or via digital platforms, saying they might include “harmful substances and additional components that could cause real harm”.

Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a significant surge in the number of clients who have been affected by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities related to weight loss injections, pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter this year, was over twice the overall amount lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically sets back sufferers £120, reports indicate.

“Scammers are deliberately targeting people’s insecurities and health concerns, with such frauds skyrocketing in the past few months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.

How It Appears

The majority occur on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.

These communications or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.

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 come at a significant financial, health-related and psychological toll,” says the fraud expert.

Recommended Actions

As with all scams, the old adage applies: should something seem too good to be true, it likely isn't genuine.

Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when buying medicines via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to health.

Fraudsters can go to great lengths to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an online pharmacy based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to confirm this is correctly licensed.