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You have heard and read a great deal about people using slimming jabs to get slim, you feel the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the festive season. However, the issue lies in cost.

Yet it appears alternatives exist rather than obtaining a doctor's script and going to the chemist. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a site with much cheaper drugs – and with no need to go through proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms the other day, so you decide to take the plunge.

The problem is these ads are highly likely to be fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you spent. In the worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in serious medical issues.

The widespread use of authentic slimming drugs has led to a rise in counterfeit products hitting the market and scams set up to merely steal consumers' cash.

Medical regulators have warned against purchasing these illegal weight loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through social media, stating they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.

Recent statistics from a high street bank show a significant surge in the number of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. According to the bank, the total sum lost to scams involving slimming jabs, injector pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, reports indicate.

“Scammers are actively exploiting people’s insecurities and medical worries, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.

How It Appears

Most occur on communication platforms and social networks. Across platforms, an account may mimic the company that you are looking for, but there will typically be subtle differences in text or brand marks.

The messages or updates will frequently use urgency-laden phrases such as “time-sensitive deal”, “special promotion” or “complimentary gift”.

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

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

What to do

As with all scams, the wise saying holds true: should something seem overly advantageous, then it probably is.

Health regulators have cautioned people to be highly vigilant when purchasing medications via the web. They should solely be acquired from a registered pharmacy using a prescription issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they can present significant dangers to health.

Criminals can go to great lengths to design their webpage or social media page look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in Great Britain, it's possible to verify the website of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure this is correctly licensed.