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You have come across a great deal regarding the use of weight loss injections to lose weight, you feel the moment has come to give it a go ahead of the holiday period. The problem is expense.

But it seems there are other options rather than obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS arrives providing a URL to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to navigate official channels. And you saw a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, prompting you to go for it.

The catch is these ads are almost certainly fraudulent schemes. At best, you'll receive nothing and lose whatever money you paid. At worst, you obtain a counterfeit item, with unknown ingredients that could lead to severe health problems.

The widespread use of legitimate weight loss medications has led to a rise in counterfeit products entering circulation and deceptive practices established to simply take people’s money.

Health authorities have warned against buying these illegal weight loss medicines absent a doctor's order from beauty salons, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, stating they might include “toxins and additional components that could cause genuine injury”.

New figures from a major retail bank show a significant surge in the quantity of clients who have been impacted by the fraud. The bank says, the amount of money lost to fraudulent activities related to slimming jabs, injector pens, pills and fat-dissolving products during the third quarter , was more than double the overall amount lost in the previous three months. The average scam costs victims £120, it says.

“Scammers are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams skyrocketing in the past few months,” says a bank’s head of fraud.

How It Appears

Most take place on communication platforms and social media. Across platforms, a profile may imitate the brand that you are looking for, but there will typically be slight variations in spelling or brand marks.

The messages or posts will frequently use pressure-inducing language such as “limited-time offer”, “exclusive deal” or “free giveaway”.

As the price of certain authentic weight loss jabs, has increased of late, the scammers will set the cost of their “item” more cheaply.

“Buying from unapproved vendors online can come at a significant financial, health-related and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.

What to do

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

Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when buying medicines via the web. These products must solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script provided by a healthcare professional, they advise. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to health.

Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site 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 online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are properly registered.