🔗 Share this article

You've heard and read so much about people using slimming jabs to lose weight, you feel it is time to try them out in the run-up to the holiday period. However, the issue lies in cost.

Yet it appears alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and going to the pharmacy. A text message comes through providing a URL to a site with more affordable medication – and with no need to navigate proper procedures. You also noticed a similar ad on social media recently, prompting you to take the plunge.

The problem is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in severe health problems.

The widespread use of authentic slimming drugs has led to a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.

Health authorities have warned against purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through social media, stating they could contain “toxins and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.

Recent statistics from a major retail bank reveal a significant surge in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities involving slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products between July and September this year, was over twice the total sum lost in the previous three months. Each incident typically costs victims £120, reports indicate.

“Scammers are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and medical worries, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.

How It Appears

The majority take place on communication platforms and social media. On socials, an account may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be subtle differences in text or logos.

These communications or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “special promotion” or “free giveaway”.

As the price of certain authentic slimming injections, rose recently, the scammers will set the cost of their “product” lower.

“Buying from unverified sellers online can come at a significant monetary, health-related and emotional cost,” warns the security specialist.

What to do

Like any deceptive scheme, the wise saying holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, it likely isn't genuine.

Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose serious risks to health.

Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, you can check the website of the medicines oversight organisation to ensure they are properly registered.