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fraud alert - acai berry scam
Posted by timethief • 7/17/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: berries (acai), bogus- blogs, Fraud, no-free-trial, online-scams, weight-loss-products
- Many bloggers are desirous of making money online and search for reputable companies with high quality products they can assist with marketing. The weight loss industry is a growth industry and customers who purchase weight loss products is who the acai berry marketing is aimed at.
Are you aware of the "acai berry scam"?
Acai is the latest fad in America health and fitness being touted as the best fat fighting formula in the world.
Consumers warned of acai berry Internet scams
If you've spent any time online, you've probably seen them: the ads for diet products made with the trendy berry açai. But you may want to think twice about signing up for one of these diets.
The consumer advocacy group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, is warning that not only are the diets questionable, many are offered through an online scam.
There's no evidence whatsoever that diet pills made with açai (pronounced a-sigh-EE) will help flatten tummies, cleanse colons, enhance sexual desire, or perform any of the other commonly advertised functions, the CSPI warns.
What's more, many of these pills are offered through "free, risk-free" 14-day trial offers that are really part of a scheme called "negative option" advertising.
www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090323/acai_090323?s_name=&n...
Fraud Alert - Web Self-Defense - How to Protect Yourself Against Internet Scams PDF file
www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/fraud_alert_-_internet_scams.pdf
The Center for Science in the Public Interest is warning consumers not to enroll online in supposedly free trials of diet products made with the trendy Brazilian berry açai (pronounced a-sigh-EE). There's no evidence whatsoever to suggest that açai pills will help shed pounds, flatten tummies, cleanse colons, enhance sexual desire, or perform any of the other commonly advertised functions. And thousands of consumers have had trouble stopping recurrent charges on their credit cards when they cancel their free trials.
Even web sites purporting to warn about açai-related scams are themselves perpetrating scams, according to CSPI.
www.cspinet.org/new/200903022_print.html
Consumers Warned of Web-Based Açai Scams
Companies Use Fake Blogs, Fake Endorsements, Fishy Science, and Hard-to-Cancel Credit Card Transactions to Bilk Consumers
www.cspinet.org/new/200903231.html
FDA Can't Protect Americans from Dangerous Dietary Supplements
Fuze Black and Green Tea with Acai Berry also contains added folate in violation of FDA rules. Excess consumption of folate masks the presence of anemia ...
www.cspinet.org/new/200903022_print.html
Watch the video - BUYER BEWARE - Avoid Acai Berry Scams!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGdUJD155cA&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fgeminiluxurybeautyspa...
Discussion questions:
(1) Have you been caught up in the acai berry scam?
(2) Have you been caught up in any other weight loss product scams?
(3) Do you know how to protect yourself against internet scams?
User Comments
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That has been tagged as a scam for some time now, and yet I still see ads for them all over the internet.-
wow ,
as i opened this thread , i can see acai berry ads in "ads by google" section
so natural
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- Even though this was exposed as a scam for some months now, as you point out the advertising appears all over the internet. That's why I wanted to post this thread and give fellow BC members a heads up. I'd hate to see them waste their money on getting involved in this "free trials" fiasco. I think it's important for all of us bloggers to know how to know how to protect ourselves against internet scams.
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@totalhowto
wow ,
as i opened this thread , i can see acai berry ads in "ads by google" section
so natural
As I'm a community donor I do not see any ads displayed on this site. Consequently, I was unaware that they are being displayed here.
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Doesn't Google prohibit ads for scams? Isn't there a way to get these ads killed??-
- It's up to Admin to decide which advertisements they want on the site and as I said above, I'm a community donor, who cannot see any ads at all, so I didn't know they were being shown on this site.
That being said, I believe the Google Adsense ads displayed on any site are the result of keyword usage on the site. If I'm correct, then when we post weight loss threads that there will be weight loss ads appearing.
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There will always be gullible people out there who are desperate to look beautiful on the outside. This is sad.-
- It appears to be a doubly sad situation according to The Center for Science in the Public Interest:
"There's no evidence whatsoever to suggest that açai pills will help shed pounds, flatten tummies, cleanse colons, enhance sexual desire, or perform any of the other commonly advertised functions. And thousands of consumers have had trouble stopping recurrent charges on their credit cards when they cancel their free trials."
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(1)Have you been caught up in the acai berry scam?
No, I have seen it though.
(2) Have you been caught up in any other weight loss product scams?
No--the only thing that works to lose weight is watching your diet and exercise.
3) Do you know how to protect yourself against internet scams?
Yes--use common sense, research products thoroughly and never give banking or cc information to anyone you aren't 100% about. -
Those ads are rampant. Most of them don't mention the berry themselves unless you click on the ad.
Otherwise you just see before and after shots of people who MAY or MAY NOT even be the same person showing off their new distinctly tinier body.
I clicked one yesterday just to see what the heck it was, since it was running perpetually on my Statcounter sidebar. -
No way. I just came back from a MonaVie party, and some guy swore to me that he drank a bottle of it, and the next day he couldn't feel pain in his knee anymore.-
I think we can find plenty such testimonials on the internet but it does appear that many people feel they were scammed, as they went through hell stopping recurrent charges on their credit cards when they canceled their free trials.
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(1) Have you been caught up in the acai berry scam?
No. I am old enough not believe in anything that is presented as a "cure all".
(2) Have you been caught up in any other weight loss product scams?
No.
(3) Do you know how to protect yourself against internet scams?
Yes, don't respond to them. If anything is too good to be true, it probably is, and be careful to whom you give any financial information.-
I do agree with your last sentence.
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Thanks for the heads up!-
You're welcome.
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I have a theory if it's not salad, water, and exercise it probably won't work. I don't trust anything unless it's done the hard way.-
That's a self protective attitude. I doubt that anyone will ever scam you. Thumbs up!
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Looking at that picture...doesn't look delectable at all. imagine having to go through this difficult process and gaining nothing.
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all i gotta say is that the acai juice tastes good. A "friend" with lime disease who is now healed (according to her) was selling it and she wanted to sign me "under her" and she gave me a few bottles to try (40$ per bottles it costs) i drank them, was glad and never signed up. i don't do pyramids and scams i will NEVER fall for. -
@lolita. I almost became a victim of this pyramid scam bhut i was rescued by someone who told me how useless it is. imagine having to 'believe ' in the product and selling it to family members to get points. then they would show you their checks and how they bought their cars through it. it just flies beyond me.
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yes my husband also almost signed up for ACN until he went to a meeting and he was told that he HAD to scam his family and friends FIRST to get anywhere. he was supposed to pay 500 to "work" then lie to people and get them to switch their cable, satellite, etc... to ACN. I am glad he is too honest for that!
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Oh my, what stories you have to tell. Any scheme that's built on me scamming family members and friends smells of a three day old fish to me.
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500?? that's a lot of money considering you have to work after paying...which is pointless LOL. How did they get people to believ this? I get the feeling that most adds have a mass hyponosis kind of formula attached to them. this acai berry thing seems to be a likely candidate.
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Discussion questions:
(1) Have you been caught up in the acai berry scam?
OK - first - I don't think the acai berry itself is a scam - I do think groups are taking advantage of the berry - making it cost more than it is worth... But the berry itself is pretty good - and has some good health benefits that I have experienced. Whether there are REAL health benefits - I don't know... but it seemed to help me a lot during a specific period of time while I used it.
I tried MV for awhile (Mona) and when I was first coming down with Rheumatiod Arthritis, Fibromyalgia and Neuropathy, it DID seem to help with some of the symptoms, without any noticeable side effects.
There was a DISTINCT difference in the way my joints and muscles felt while I was taking it - and when I stopped - and then when I started taking it again - and when I stopped because I couldn't afford the high prices.
So - while I think they are WAY WAY WAY overpriced, I think the products on the market --- some of them ARE beneficial...
And some of the Businesses selling them --- ARE SCAMS...
So to me - it's not the berry or juice that is a scam...
The people selling it and purporting it to do things - well - they might be scammers.
And... please - keep in mind - medicines and foods - different people react differently to them. What may work for one person may not work for another. What one person can eat - another may be allergic to.
But those that do the Recurring credit card charges - whether it is ACAI or ANY item - those stink to high heaven - and they appear to be SCAMS even at first glance, to me, at least.
(2) Have you been caught up in any other weight loss product scams?
Since I've never used this product or any other product for "weight loss" - then I'd have to say no.
(3) Do you know how to protect yourself against internet scams?
Absolutely - Don't buy anything online that you haven't fully read the restrictions, rules, terms of service and payment rules, etc.
And if ANYTHING has recurring charges - SAY HECK NO!!! Unless you are prepared to pay for it - regardless if it arrives or not.
And don't believe everything you read.
AND --- Do your research. Look for online complaints and more.
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TT this was a very good discussion - and informative - a lot of folks do NOT realize that recurring charges on their cards, regardless of the product - can be REALLY difficult to stop...
In fact, a friend of mine was getting make-up from this club - and didn't get several shipments - but regardless was responsible for them --- and they refused to stop the recurring charges --- in the fine print - she had agreed to indefinite recurring charges... They harassed her - and called her almost daily - to pay the charges when her CC company began declining them - and then - when she tried to talk to someone - NO ONE WOULD accept her stopping the charges - or the shipments.
It was an eyeopening experience for me.
She eventually canceled the product an the card - but it was expensive and a pain in the rump!-
@wagerwitch
Thanks for the feedback. I have explored these sites and all of them have now adopted the "Beware of acai berry scams" advertising angle. It seems the premise on these sites is that all their competitors are scammers and they aren't. -
yup the brand she gave me was monavie.
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- There are many product "brands" but only one acai berry, a fruit from the Brazilian rainforest. Euterpe oleracea, also known as the açaí palm, is one of the species of palms that is harvested for its core, known as hearts of palm. The fruit of the palm is the açaí berry, which has only been discovered by Americans in the past few years, though inhabitants of the Amazon region have made the berry a part of their daily diet for many years.
When the berry came to the USA, marketing campaigns exploded in Web sites, magazines and television ads, claiming the little berry could do everything from increase energy to reverse diabetes. You will find numerous products on the market today each claiming they have the best, 100% pure acai berry juice.
On one hand, the FDA has not officially approved acai because it is a fruit from another country and cannot be grown in the United States. On the other, the FDA can regulate bottling plants that process acai berry juice as a food source.
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