This scam has also been running rampant for Resveratrol
products, Colon Cleanse products, Wrinkle "Cures", Men's muscle building
supplements, and anything else that claims to give you miraculous
results from a bogus little pill... and if they tell you that you get 1
free bottle for only paying shipping and handling... get off that site
FAST!
by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
I found out that even my
own mom
had recently fallen for this type of scam, so please read how this
works and pass on to your friends to protect them from falling for this
too.
Over the course of the last year, you may have noticed that you
couldn't go to any website on the entire internet it seems without
seeing about 10 ads saying things like this:
1 Rule of a Flat Stomach - Obey
or
3 Rules of a Flat Stomach - You Must Obey
Here are some similar ads that have been EVERYWHERE lately:
New Jersey Mom Got Skinny by Following 1 Rule
or
Chicago Mom Lost 52 lbs following 2 Rules
Here's the deal on how this scam works:
If you've ever clicked on one of these ads, the first thing you'll
notice is that this so-called "1 Rule" or "2 Rules" doesn't even exist.
Instead you end up at what looks like a blog (or so they're trying to
fool you into thinking it's a real blog)...
FYI - this same exact fake blog scam is being used
in all sorts of categories online now from teeth whiteners (ever seen
the stupid "Cathy's Teeth" ads everywhere?) to men's muscle-building
supplements to dozens of other products (which is why I'm showing you
how the scammer usually works this whole operation).
Scam Characteristic #1: the fake blog naming
These "blogs" usually show a picture of a woman with some made-up name such as
Heathers Fat Loss Blog or
Kristin's Diet Blog or
Jennifers Weight Loss Blog. However, the problem is that Jennifer or Heather or Kristin
all don't even exist!
To be honest, they could easily be some big fat hairy guy sitting in
his boxers on his couch operating this fake blog that is trying to sell
you bogus pills.
Scam Characteristic #2: fake pictures
The pictures of the women used in these blogs are usually simply
obtained by the scammer from stock photo websites... and then they
manipulate some photos to try to look like a person made some sort of
transformation. Many of the pics only show from the chest down, so they
aren't even the same person in before and after pics.
Scam Characteristic #3: fake blog comments
The entire blog is fake, including the so-called "comments" that are
at the bottom of the blog (which the affiliate marketer is clever enough
to put some comments in all-caps and some in all-lowercase, so they
look like legit comments from different people).
Scam Characteristic #4: they somehow live near you???
Another thing that the scammer does is their site detects your IP
address location, so that they can fill in a city near you to make you
think that Heather or Kristin or Jennifer are located somewhat close to
where you live... That's why if you live near Chicago, it'll say that
it's Cindy's Blog and she's a mother of 2 that lives near Chicago...
maybe they think this gives you the "warm fuzzy" trusting feeling that
they must be a local person.
Scam Characteristic #5: they usually claim some sort of celebrity endorsement, such as Oprah, Dr Oz, or Rachel Ray
Almost all of these fake blogs usually
show pictures of either Oprah, Dr Oz, or Rachel Ray (or some other
celebrity) and claim that they are endorsed by that celebrity. First of
all, even if a celebrity did endorse a pill, who cares? Does anybody
really think most celebrities are weight loss experts? Give me a break!
And 2nd of all, most of these
celebrities have come out publicly and stated that they don't endorse
these products... so again, this immoral fake blog owner is simply
lying.
Scam Characteristic #6: their secret "2-step process"
Another characteristic of most of these fake blogs is that they will usually claim that they used a
"2-step process"
to lose some made up weight loss number like 52 lbs in only 21 days.
Usually their "2 step process" is that they claim they used a "free"
bottle of acai berry pills and a "free" bottle of colon cleanse pills.
Sometimes they will promote a different product such as resveratrol
or some sort of other "miracle fat burning pill". It doesn't matter
what combination they claimed they used... they're all complete scams!
The reason they claim that they used 2 products is because they get 2
commissions from the supplement companies if you are fooled into buying
both of their "free bottles" (which you'll eventually see aren't really
free when they send you the 2nd round of bottles in 3-4 weeks and you
get billed $90 on your credit card for EACH bottle).
Scam Characteristic #7: they say the offer expires at a date that is either 1 or 2 days from current date
Many
times the fake blog will also say that the offer for these "free
bottles" of pills expires (and it gives a date that is either 1 or 2
days from the current date). They do this through a script that simply
fills in the date at a set time after today's date. Again, they are
lying.
Where the Diet Pill Fake Blog Scam (and teeth whitener scam, wrinkle eraser, muscle building pill scam, etc, etc) originates
The backbone of this whole thing lies in something called a CPA
network, where independent online advertisers are allowed to do whatever
they want to try and sell a bottle of pills to someone using a "get
this free bottle of pills and pay only shipping and handling" type of
offer... and these CPA affiliates will do ANYTHING to try to lure you
into this sale -- and that includes blatantly LYING in BOTH their ads
and their fake blogs!
Now these CPA networks aren't necessarily the bad apples (although
I've heard that some reps from the CPA networks have actually tried to
convince their affiliates to produce fake blogs)... it's the CPA
affiliate marketers that run most of the advertising for the products
that the CPA networks allow. Those are the real low-lives with no
morals that will do anything to make a buck.
From what I've seen, these CPA network affiliate marketers that run
"magic pill" offers will do whatever it takes to make a sale... they
literally seem sleezy enough that they would probably even lie to their
own Mom just to make a sale. The CPA network pays the affiliate a set
hefty fee everytime someone orders a "free plus S&H" bottle of
pills.
But it gets worse!
Now beyond that fact that they already blatantly lied to you by using
a fake blog, fake story, and about 10 other lies... most customers do
not see the fine print that tells them that they'll start receiving
bottles of this junk every month starting about 3-4 weeks after their
initial order for the "free bottle + shipping".
This same exact thing happened to my mom when she told me about the
"free bottle" of pills she found on the internet. I asked her what the
site looked like that she saw this on and she described exactly the type
of fake blog that I'm telling you about in this article. She literally
had no clue that she was going to be billed another $70 to $90 per
bottle on her credit card in a couple weeks when they automatically
started sending her the next month's shipment.
Now to give some of these companies a little bit of credit... if you
read the fine print, they do say that you'll get automatically billed,
but from what I've heard is that most people don't read the fine print
and really have no clue that they will be billed again. Most people
really do think that they are getting a free bottle of pills for only
S&H.
And if you ordered both bottles of pills from the fake blogger's
so-called "2-step process", then you'll be shocked to see 2 giant
charges on your credit card next month when they send you the 2nd set of
bottles.
To make matters worse, I've heard from people that some of these
shady "fly by night" supplement companies are poorly staffed and it's
nearly impossible to get in contact with them to cancel your order or
get a refund. Good luck with that!
And the Last Problem - the pills don't work!
That's right...they don't do jack-diddly-squat! I've even heard from
some insiders that these sleezy companies produce these bottles of
pills for about $1.50 per bottle, and then charge you $70 or $80 per
month for them!
Remember that ever since the passing of the 1994 Dietary Supplement
and Health Education Act (DSHEA), supplements have been excluded from
federal regulation. One of the negative aspects of this is that certain
unscrupulous companies could now pretty much get away with putting
anything they wanted in the bottle because it did not have to undergo
quality control testing to make it to market. Their label didn't even
have to match what was in the bottle, since nobody is policing them.
As shady as these companies are, I certainly wouldn't trust them to
actually be truthful in what they're putting in the pills... how do you
know it's not just sawdust in the pill?
That's why I only trust very select supplement companies... those that I know the owners personally, such as this site:
http://natural.getprograde.com
I hope this article has helped so you know exactly how to avoid these
types of fake blog websites... remember that these types of fake blogs
have spread to all sorts of other things beyond weight loss pills... 3
of the newest offenders being teeth whiteners, wrinkle "cures", and
muscle building supplements.
Watch out for this Idiot Loser too...
Also watch out for a particular fake blog scam that I just saw showing up recently called the "
Terminator Workout".
This fake blog is designed to deceive men into buying a "free bottle"
of muscle building pills. This idiot that made the fake blog claims you
don't even need any exercise at all. sure... ok Tiny Tim.
Also his ads don't even make any sense, since the Terminator Workout
ad takes you to a fake blog that doesn't even talk about working out...
he just talks about the pills. He tries to talk in a real casual and
"urban tone" on the blog too to fool you into thinking he's a regular
guy that found a miracle supplement. What an idiot loser!
Watch out for these slimeballs and their fake blogs... they're everywhere!
Email this page to protect your friends and family from
this scam! Also feel free to copy/paste the link to this page to your
twitter, facebook, myspace, blog, or forum pages to help those you know
avoid this scam.
Instead of falling for scams, get the real TRUTH on losing body fat permanently without any bogus pills
To your success in achieving a lean healthy body (without scams),
Mike Geary
Certified Personal Trainer
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author -
The Truth about Six Pack Abs (world-wide best seller of over 250,000 copies)
PS - My friends at Prograde Nutrition only sell legitimate products such as a
high ORAC antioxidant blend or natural
krill oil (even more benefits than fish oil).
These products have dozens of healthy benefits, but nobody is claiming
them to be a "miracle weight loss cure". When a site actually preaches
real health benefits instead of claiming to be a miracle fat loss pill,
you know that is a site to trust.