🔗 Share this article

You have heard and read a great deal about people using weight loss injections to get slim, you feel it is time to try them out ahead of the holiday period. The problem is cost.

Yet it appears there are other options instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives giving a link to a site with more affordable medication – and requiring no necessity to go through proper procedures. And you saw a similar ad on social media recently, so you decide to go for it.

The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and forfeit whatever money you spent. In the worst, you receive a fake version, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.

The popularity of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a increase in fake goods hitting the market and scams set up to simply take consumers' cash.

Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing these illegal slimming medications absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or via digital platforms, saying they could contain “harmful substances and other ingredients which may provoke real harm”.

Recent statistics from a high street bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum stolen through fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the prior quarter. The average scam sets back sufferers £120, it says.

“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with such frauds skyrocketing in recent months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.

How It Appears

Most take place on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, an account may mimic the company that you seek, but you'll often notice subtle differences in spelling or brand marks.

These communications or posts will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.

With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.

“Buying from unverified sellers on the internet can entail a serious monetary, medical and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.

Recommended Actions

As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.

Medical authorities have warned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications online. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription provided by a medical practitioner, it says. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to wellbeing.

Criminals can go to great lengths to make their site or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist located within Great Britain, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are correctly licensed.