by Dan-N on April 29, 2010
Sometimes I wonder if Acai scammers hang out together around a witches cauldron, torture kittens and try to dream up the most disgusting acai scams they can think of. We thought the Julia Miller Acai Health News Scam was about as low as they could go – but guess what – they went lower!
How To Turn Ann Curry into Denise Randall and Create a New Acai Scam
You know Ann Curry – the well respected anchor of the NBC Today Show – she has now been transformed into Denise Randall, nutritionist and weight loss consultant for US Medical Journal. Amazingly, she used an Acai product and a colon cleanse and lost 17 pounds in 4 weeks!
Confused? No Idea How Ann Curry Becomes Denise Randall and Works for US Medical Journal? It is Bizarre…
The scammers have come up with a new dirty trick in their bag – create fake Medical Journals! But wait, that is not low enough for them – so they also slapped Ann Curry’s picture up there, gave her a new name and claim she has lost a ton of weight.
Simply put, this is just one of those acai scams you really need to see to believe…
Help Us Spread the Word Before Anyone Else Loses Their Money
Tweet this article, post to facebook, email your friends, yell it out the window… you get the idea. Let’s make sure everyone knows about this acai scam so they do not waste their money.
FTC, FDA, Ann Curry, The Today Show… Somebody Do Something!
These scam sites need to be shut down. The FTC has clear policy against deceptive advertising – how can this not be seen as deceptive advertising? By not taking action, this scammers are getting more bold because there are no consequences to their actions. Maybe when they decide to slap the picture of the FTC Commissioner on one of their fake news site and talk about how he lost 20 pounds in a night, that will draw the FTC’s attention???
Additional Resources:
Julia Miller Health News 6 (7) Acai Berry Scam Exposed
Oprah and Illinois Attorney General File Suit Against Acai Scam Companies
Oprah Writes, then Throws Book At Acai Scammers
How I Lost $90 in 30 Days Using the Acai Berry
What Did Oprah and Dr Oz Really Say About Acai
Acai Berry Scams – How to Avoid Them
Acai Berry Maxx named Texas Lawsuit
Free Black Belt Course in Spotting Acai Berry Scams
How Do You Stop An Acai Berry Scammer From Scamming?
by Dan-N on December 18, 2009
There is an old corny joke -
Q- How Do You Stop An Elephant From Charing?
A – Take Away His Credit Cards
Well, it looks like Visa has finally seen the giant Elephant in the room – All the Free Trial Acai Berry Scammers – and true to the joke, they have taken away their credit cards!
Visa Inc. Cuts Off 100 Merchants Who Have Been Deceiving Consumers
On December 17, 2009 Visa Inc. announced they cut off 100 scammers who used bogus marketing techniques to dupe consumers in the past six months. The scam involves what is called “negative option” or “forced continuity”. This is a process where the consumer signs up to get something for free (such as Acai or Resveratrol) and is just asked to enter a credit card to pay for shipping. What the consumer does not see is that there is tiny print buried pages deep in the site that says they give the company the right to charge them upwards of $90 a month and continue to bill them for products every month.
“The game here is to get people hooked, keep them on the hook for monthly charges as long as you can, and only stop making those charges when you’re forced to,” said Stephen Salter, vice president of BBB Online. BBB has received thousands of complaints about the problem, with multiple companies to blame. “The product is irrelevant to getting the charges on the card.”
Let’s All Welcome Visa Inc on Board the Stop Acai Scams Bandwagon – What Took You So Long!
Any regular regular of this blog knows that we have been calling for authorities to shut down these Acai scam sites for close to a year now. We have seen Attorney Generals from various states bring actions, The Better Business Bureau issue warnings and Oprah bringing a massive lawsuit against the scammers. Still, we have always felt the best way to stop these acai scammers was to hit them in the wallet and cut off their ability to accept credit cards. So, while Visa Inc is a little late to the party – we definitely welcome them and applaud their actions.
100 Merchants? Is That All the Acai Scammers Out There?
No – just a small drop in the bucket. The good news is this sends another signal to any company who practiced deception online that deceit does not pay. Maybe they were not caught in this round by Visa Inc. Maybe they were not named in the Oprah Lawsuit. Maybe the FDA and FTC has not filed charges against them today. Maybe the Attorney General in their state has not shut them down yet… but tomorrow is another day and they might be next.
We really believe the way to stop these Acai scams is to create an environment where the risk outweighs the reward. These scammers are all about making money and not getting caught. As they start to see more legal action taken, their risk of getting caught increases. Let’s hope everyone keeps applying more pressure so we can all believe in the old adage again – crime does not pay!
Additional Resources:
Black Belt Course In Spotting Acai Berry Scams
Visa Inc Information on Negative Option and Deceptive Marketing
Visa, FTC and BBB Press Release on Avoiding Online Scams
by Dan-N on November 3, 2009
If we had a dime for every minute we spent writing about Acai Scams we would be rich! And tired, from lugging all those dimes over to the bank… but that’s not the point. As the calendar turns from October to November we might actually see a very positive trend – a decrease in acai berry scams!
Oprah Lawsuit Might Finally Be Putting a Dent in Acai Berry Scams
Our unofficial review has shown the number of free trial acai scams increase every month since about July 2008. October 2009 looks like it may be the first month where the number of Acai free trial scams did not increase. Of course, it is almost impossible to scientifically measure this, but when we look at Acai related spam and Acai advertising – it did look like October was a cleaner month than September.
We have no doubt that the 267 Page Lawsuit by Oprah (Harpo Productions) had a lot to do with this trend. It was not just the companies that Harpo brought suit against, we believe it also had a ripple effect by scaring off many other acai scam companies. The Oprah lawsuit made it clear they would go after anyone who used her (or Dr. Oz’s) image to promote their Acai supplement.
Let’s Not Count Our Chickens Before They Hatch
Let’s not pull punches, there are still thousands of Acai Berry products being sold in deceptive and dishonest ways. If you have a shark tank filled with 100 sharks – it would be dangerous to jump in. If you then removed 70 sharks, I guess it is a little safer, but I would still be vary cautious about jumping in!
As we have said before, there are some quality Acai Supplements out there, you just need to be very careful before you give out your credit card to anyone.
We will report back at the end of November and see if this positive trend in decreasing the number of acai scam products can continue.
by Dan-N on September 28, 2009
Anyway you cut it, it’s been a bad few weeks for Advanced Wellness Research (now called Netalab) and their products – Pure Acai Berry Pro and New Pure Acai Berry Burn. As we reported in August, Advanced Wellness Research was named in a lawsuit by the Illinois Attorney General for deceptive advertising on their acai products. The same day, Harpo Productions (producers of the Oprah Winfrey Show) also sued Advanced Wellness Research for using Oprah’s image without their permission and misleading customers.
Well, it looks like September is not getting any easier for them. The Florida Attorney General has now also sued Advanced Wellness Research for deceptive marketing of their Acai berry products. As is often the case with Acai Berry Scams, Advanced Wellness Research was offering a “free trial” but then autobilling customers $80 a month.
“TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced his office filed a law suit against a Miami company, a related company and company principals over allegations the companies engaged in deceptive marketing practices. Advanced Wellness Research, Inc. allegedly offered free trials for its products, including Acai berry supplements and whitening toothpaste, but failed to provide reasonable notice that customers would be charged approximately $80 on a monthly basis for products they did not intend to purchase.
The Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division began investigating the companies after receiving over 700 complaints about the companies. According to the complaints, consumers who tried to cancel the continuation program were unable to contact the company from which the products were purchased. ”
- Press Release from the Florida Attorney General”
Let’s hope that Attorney Generals from every state continue with these law suits against these Acai scam companies. If you live in Florida and have been victim to an Acai scam, you can contact the Attorney’s Generals office and file a claim – 1-866-9667226.
Additional Resources:
Full Press Release from Floria Attorney General
Oprah and Illinois Attorney General File Suit Against Acai Scam Companies
How I Lost $90 in 30 Days Using the Acai Berry
What Did Oprah and Dr Oz Really Say About Acai
Acai Berry Scams – How to Avoid Them
Acai Berry Maxx named Texas Lawsuit
Free Black Belt Course in Spotting Acai Berry Scams
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