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

Yet it appears there are other options rather than getting a prescription and visiting the chemist. An SMS arrives giving a link to a website with more affordable drugs – and with no necessity to go through proper procedures. And you saw a comparable advertisement on social media recently, so you decide to take the plunge.

The catch is these ads are almost certainly scams. In the best-case scenario, you'll receive no product and lose whatever money you spent. At worst, you receive a counterfeit item, containing unspecified components which may result in serious medical issues.

The widespread use of authentic weight loss medications has resulted in a increase in fake goods hitting the market and scams established 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, saying they might include “toxins and additional components which may provoke real harm”.

Recent statistics from a major retail bank show a sharp rise in the number of customers who have been impacted by the scam. According to the bank, the amount of money lost to scams involving slimming jabs, pens, tablets and lipid-reducing solutions during the third quarter this year, was more than double the overall amount lost in the prior quarter. Each incident typically costs victims £120, it says.

“Fraudsters are actively exploiting individuals' self-doubts and health concerns, with these scams soaring in the past few months,” says a financial institution's fraud prevention lead.

What it looks like

Most take place on messaging apps and social media. Across platforms, an account may imitate the company that you seek, but there will typically be slight variations in text or brand marks.

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

With the cost of some legitimate slimming injections, rose of late, the fraudsters will price their “item” lower.

“Purchasing from unapproved vendors on the internet can entail a serious monetary, medical and psychological toll,” says the security specialist.

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Like any deceptive scheme, the old adage holds true: if it appears overly advantageous, then it probably is.

Medical authorities have cautioned people to be extremely cautious when purchasing medications online. They should solely be acquired from a licensed chemist with a valid script issued by a medical practitioner, it says. When procured from other sources, they may pose significant dangers to health.

Fraudsters can expend considerable effort to design their webpage or online profile look as authentic as possible. If they claim to be an internet-based chemist based in the UK, it's possible to verify the online portal of the medicines oversight organisation to confirm they are correctly licensed.