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You have come across a great deal regarding the use of slimming jabs to lose weight, it feels like the moment has come to give it a go in the run-up to the holiday period. The problem is cost.

But it seems alternatives exist instead of obtaining a doctor's script and visiting the pharmacy. An SMS comes through providing a URL to a website with much cheaper medication – and with no need to go through official channels. You also noticed a comparable advertisement on online platforms recently, so you decide to take the plunge.

The catch is such promotions are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and forfeit whatever money you paid. At worst, you obtain a fake version, with unknown ingredients which may result in severe health problems.

The popularity of legitimate slimming drugs has resulted in a increase in counterfeit products entering circulation and scams set up to merely steal people’s money.

Medical regulators have advised avoiding purchasing such unlawful weight loss medicines without a prescription from aesthetic clinics, bogus online chemists or through digital platforms, stating they might include “harmful substances and other ingredients that could cause genuine injury”.

New figures from a high street bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. The bank says, the amount of money stolen through fraudulent activities involving weight loss injections, 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. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.

“Fraudsters are deliberately targeting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with such frauds soaring in recent months,” notes a bank’s head of fraud.

What it looks like

Most 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 brand marks.

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

As the price of some legitimate weight loss jabs, rose recently, the fraudsters will set the cost of their “product” lower.

“Buying from unapproved vendors online can entail a serious financial, health-related and emotional cost,” says the fraud expert.

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

Health regulators have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications via the web. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a healthcare professional, they advise. If sourced elsewhere, they may pose significant dangers to health.

Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to make their site or online profile look as authentic as possible. Should they state to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the pharmaceutical regulatory body to ensure they are properly registered.