Diet Scams

We've all seen the internet ads Try This Trick, Lose 25 lbs in 4 weeks, Acai Berry Weight Loss, but according to the Federal Trade Commission they are scams.
The way these scams work is that the company who produces the product hires an online marketer (virtual salesman) who gets paid for the amount of sales generated from his or her online ad. There are no rules or guidelines from the company and nothing in the ad has to be truthful, including the endorsements by major news companies i.e. CNN whose logos are used without permission. One of the women who is purported to have lost 25 pounds in a four week period is a French journalist, Melissa Theuriau, who not only didn't have a rapid weight loss, she had no idea her photographs were being used to market the product. According to an interview on 20/20 this week, the Federal Trade Commission are investigating these scams and seeking out these virtual salesmen some of who have made millions of dollars selling these products.

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.