Tricksters in the U.K. are using AI photo editing software to make themselves look heavier so they can get their hands on weight loss drugs.
A report by ITV News, followed up by Amateur Photographer, follows reporter Cree Summer Houghton, who was able to get the drug called mounjaro by editing pictures of herself to make her look bigger.
Houghton managed to get the weight loss drugs from three separate online pharmacies, highlighting the issue that everyday folk are able to manipulate images in a low-level fraud.
Houghton spoke with an anonymous person called “Sophie,” who says she was able to edit the photos in just “five minutes.” Sophie says she has suffered with body image issues.
Weight loss drugs in the United Kingdom aren’t as readily available as they are in the United States. Currently, regulartions in the U.K. demand a “two-way consultation,” which can be video or face-to-face, or something called “independent verification.” It’s the latter clause that can be easily manipulated.
ITV News spoke to Dr Roz Gittins of the U.K.’s General Phamaceutical Council.
“Having one photo by itself is not going to be sufficient,” says Dr Gittins. “We’ve taken enforcement action against roughly 18 pharmacies in relation to online activity where it hasn’t met our standards.”
AI Photo Editing – A Growing Menace
The rise of AI-powered photo editing apps such as Google’s Nano Banana and ChatGPT’s image generator makes it incredibly easy for laypeople to make edits to photos that once required the expertise of a Photoshop whizz.
This new landscape makes low-level pranks and fraud very easy to do. Three years ago, PetaPixel ran a similar piece about British authorities receiving badly Photoshopped pictures by fraudsters who are claiming welfare while living abroad.
Fast-forward to 2026, and the powerful photo editing software is now available to all — and for free. In October, multiple police forces on both sides of the Atlantic issued warnings about the AI homeless man photo trend, which saw people generate images of a homeless person in their house and send it to loved ones.
