🔗 Share this article

You have heard and read a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to get slim, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. The problem is cost.

But it seems alternatives exist instead of getting a prescription and visiting the pharmacy. A text message arrives providing a URL to a site with more affordable medication – and requiring no need to go through official channels. And you saw a similar ad on online platforms the other day, so you decide to go for it.

The catch is such promotions are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive nothing and forfeit whatever money you paid. In the worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.

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

Health authorities have warned against purchasing these illegal slimming medications without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, fake pharmacy websites or through social media, stating they could contain “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.

New figures from a major retail bank reveal a sharp rise in the number of clients who have been affected by the fraud. The bank says, the total sum stolen through scams involving weight loss injections, pens, pills and lipid-reducing solutions between July and September this year, was more than double the overall amount stolen 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 soaring in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.

How It Appears

The majority occur on messaging apps and social media. On socials, an account may mimic the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or logos.

These communications or updates will often use urgency-laden phrases such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “complimentary gift”.

With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, has increased recently, the scammers will price their “product” more cheaply.

“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a significant monetary, medical and psychological toll,” warns the fraud expert.

What to do

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

Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. These products must only be obtained from a licensed chemist using a prescription issued by a healthcare professional, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present serious risks to health.

Criminals can expend considerable effort 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, it's possible to verify the website of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm this is correctly licensed.