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The Most Disgusting Acai Scam We Have Ever Seen

by Dan-N on March 12, 2010

We tried to come up with a clever, funny headline for this post – but we were too depressed to be funny.  We have reported for so long about acai berry scams that it takes a lot to surprise us – but this latest acai scam surprised us!  We have seen the fake acai review sites, been through the fake diet blog sites and of course all the free trial scams.  But creating not one – but at least two fake news networks – that is incredibly disgusting.

Health News 7 – Bringing You The Best in Fake News

We recently got an email that linked to a “new report on the Acai Berry”.  The news network is Health News 7 and here is a screen shot on their “story” -

Click The Image To See The Enlarged View

Click The Image To See The Enlarged View

You really need to click the above image to see it full size.  Here are a couple of things we want to point out -

  • Site is News7Health.Com and clearly looks like a real news site.
  • The reporter is shown in the photo and identified as “Health and Diet writer, Julia Miller”
  • The story goes on about how the reporter was skeptical, but some free trial Acai Berry helped her lose 25 pounds in 4 weeks.

This looks like a very impressive piece.  We have a news reporter who tried Acai and saw amazing weight loss.  There is just one little problem – IT IS ALL MADE UP!

Exposing News7Health.Com for the Scam It Is

The site looked strange to us and we had never heard of News 7 Health – so we decided to read more news stories from the site.  We started clicking on the links on the top of the page – things like US, World, Business, Politics, etc – they are all dead links! This is a completely made up news site that uses affiliate links to try to trick people into buying a “free trial acai product” that will actually cost you $90 a month!

Don’t Be Disgusted Yet – It Only Gets Worse

I hope you have more disgust and outrage inside you – because it only gets worse!  We did a little digging on the internet and we found this site -

Click Above Image to See Full Size

Click Above Image to See Full Size

Again, click the above image to get the full disgusting view.  Wow, looks like there is another “news network” called Health News 6.  Guess what, they also did a story where their reporter took Acai and lost tons of weight.  Let’s get a close up of these competing Health Reporters from New 6 Health and News 7 Health -

Julia Miller

Julia Miller

Julia Miller ???

Julia Miller ???

Wow – not only did Julia Miller lose weight by taking Acai – she also completely changed her appearance!  Acai really is Amazing!

Stock Photos Allow Anyone To Create Their Own News Network!

These scammers are so lazy that they don’t even make an effort to cover their tracks anymore.  Why bother changing the fake reporters name – just throw in a different stock photo.  If one fake news site makes you money, then 10 fake news sites will make you more money.

The Evolution of Acai Scam – Making the Jump From Deception to Flat Out Fabrication

Unfortunately, Acai scams are not new – we have been exposing them for over 2 years.   What is so disturbing with this one is the jump from deception to fabrication.  The “old” acai scam was to mislead people into thinking they were getting a free trial of Acai.  Buried at the bottom of the Terms of Service, in font too small to read, was the fact that you will be autobilled $90 every month.  This is completely deceptive, but the scammers try to walk the line claiming everything is there if people just read the Terms of Service.

This new scam does not walk any lines – it flat out lies and fabricates.  Julia Miller is not a health reporter, in fact she is not even real! She is whatever stock photo they can find for their site.  The News 7 Health or News 6 Health sites – also not real.  Just fake facades for someone selling Acai.  Of course the comments, testimonials and before and after pictures – all made up.  I guess the scammers were not stealing enough money by deceiving, so they had to evolve into full out fabrication mode.

FTC – You Need to Take Action – NOW!

We uncovered this scam in about 5 minutes.  To our fine hard working friends at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – how about you spend a few hours building a case against these guys?  These scams are costing Americans millions of dollars a year.  Could there be more deceptive advertising than this?

Drop us a comment, let us know what you think.  Are you as outraged as us?

View The Scam In Action With This Video

Click Here to Watch A Screen Capture Video Exposing These Acai Scam Health Sites.

Help Us Get The Word Out on This Acai Scam

The more people who know the truth about Health News 6 and Julia Miller – the less people who will fall victim to the scam.  Let’s get the word out and let everyone know about this.  Please link to this article, put it on your FaceBook page, Tweet about it – do whatever you can to make sure people know that this is scam.  We really appreciate your help!

Update on Julia Miller Scams and The Quest for Real Acai (3/31/10)

Since we published this article on 3/12 we have had an incredible response.   Thank you to everyone who has linked to this article, together we have helped thousands of people find out about the Julia Miller scam before they wasted their money.  There is still more work to be done, we have seen the scammers start to change Julia Miller’s name – but we will keep after them.

As our regular readers know, we try to keep this blog as non-commercial as possible.  However, we have had so many readers ask us if there are any real Acai supplements available, we felt it would be wrong not the mention the brand of Acai we love and trust.  Perfect Acai is a 100% Pure Organic Acai supplement that involves no free trials, memberships or other games.  It is simply real acai, available for purchase without any tricks or scams.

Update on Even More Disgusting Acai Berry Scam (4/29/10)

Just when you think these Acai scammers can not get any lower… they do!  Take a look at our post on the Denise Randall US Medical Journal Acai Scam – it is so bad you really need to see it to believe it!

Update The Fake News Acai Scams Keep on Going (12/3/10)

Thank you for all the incredible comments!  We have had hundreds of comments on this post and appreciate everybody spreading the word so we can stop people for falling for these scams.  Over the last few months, we have seen the scammers use a number of different fake news sites and fake health reporters – here is a partial list:

Other Fake Health Reporters and News Sites:

  • News 6 Reports and Jane Clark Health Reporter
  • Sharon Smith at Weekly Consumer Digest (WCD)
  • Cindy Anderson USHealthNews or USA Health News
  • Health and Diet writer, Alice Carlson of C1 Health News
  • Helen Cohen, Weekly Health News and WeeklyHealth News Health and Diet Reporter
  • Julie Ayers Channel 5 Health News
  • News 10 Reporter

Go ahead and read the fine print at the bottom of those sites, you will see the stories are fictional, they are not affiliated with any news network and the “free trial” will cost you hundreds of dollars a month!

If you have seen other names used for this Acai scam, please let us know by leaving a comment.  The more we can let people know about all these fake health news reporters, the better the chances of stopping innocent people from falling for these scams.

Additional Resources:

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?


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How Fruits Like Acai and Muscadine Really Interact With Cholesterol

by Dan-N on December 7, 2009

Acai Berries

When it comes to superfruits like Acai, muscadines and resveratrol – you often see claims about how these fruits can help with cardiovascular function or cholesterol levels. What is interesting is that very few sites actually get into the science of how these fruits can work their magic. Let’s dig a little deeper…

I Guess Scientific Names Sound Better than “Fruit Filling”

You know all that stuff that make up a fruits – we call it pulp, fruit filling or fruit stuff – but that is not very scientific and way too easy to pronounce. Here are some technical terms for all the good stuff in fruit…

  • Plants and Fruits are made up of stuff! The broad term for the top level components in plants and fruits are Polyphenols. There are over 10,000 different Polyphenols in the plant kingdom.
  • Because biologist love to classify things, there are groups that fall under Polyphenols. Flavonoids are a large group of components in the Polyphenol class. So, while there are thousands of different flavonoids, all flavonoids are part of the larger Polyphenol grouping.
  • You like words you can’t pronounce? How about Proanthocyanidins (or oligomeric proanthocyanidins or OPC) or Anthocyanins? These are things that fall under the Flavonoid group. Isn’t biology fun?

We will stop there – not because the classifications end, but just because we realize your finger is probably just about to hit the close button on your browser!

Going to a party and want to impress everyone with your knowledge of Resveratrol? Try this one out on them –

Resveratrol is a phytoalexin. Phytoalexins are flavonoids. All flavonoids are Polyphenols. So, Resveratrol is a phytoalexin, flavonoid and polyphenol!

What Does Any of This Have to Do With How Fruits Help With Cholesterol?

Sorry, the boring biology lesson on terms that no one can pronounce is now over. What is important to take away from the above is that fruits, and especially superfruits like Muscadine and Acai, are packed with all these nutrients and antioxidants. Many of the polyphenols in Acai and Muscadine are powerful antioxidants. Resveratrol, anthocyanins, OPCs – all powerful antioxidants.

How Do Antioxidants Help With Cholesterol?

I am sure you have hear about the “good and bad” cholesterol. It is generally accepted that LDL Cholesterol is the bad cholesterol and HDL cholesterol is the good cholesterol. While on a simple level this is true, it is actually a little bit more complicated when it comes to when LDL Cholesterol starts causing real health issues.

Oxidized LDL Cholesterol – The Really Bad Cholesterol

What is worse than having high levels of LDL Cholesterol? Having high levels of Oxidized LDL Cholesterol! Oxidized LDL Cholesterol is exactly what its name suggests, LDL cholesterol that has been attacked by free radicals and becomes oxidized. Numerous studies have found a strong correlation between high levels of oxidized LDL cholesterol and heart disease. In fact, the correlation between Oxidized LDL Cholesterol and heart disease is much stronger than the correlation between LDL cholesterol (not oxidized) and heart disease. Clearly, you want to do what you can to avoid Oxidized LDL Cholesterol.

How All Fruits (including Acai and Muscadine Grapes) Can Help

Nobody eats food that has Oxidized LDL Cholesterol. We eat foods with LDL Cholesterol and the oxidation happens inside our body due to free radicals. Fruits are high in antioxidants and superfruits like Acai and Muscadine Grapes are really high in antioxidants. It is the antioxidants in fruits that can help battle the free radicals and give you the best chance of keeping LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and becoming really bad cholesterol!

People often think of antioxidants helping with skin tone, the immune system or general energy levels and while this is all correct, they can really help on a much deeper level. Oxidation does not just lead to skin spots and other skin issues, oxidation works on a cellular level and can cause serious health issues. Eating a diet rich in antioxidants is one of the best ways to keep oxidation in check, keep LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and sure, it can help your skin look better to!

Our Standard Disclaimer – We Are Not Giving Medical Advice

Nothing we say here should be taken as medical advice. We are not making any health claims about what a fruit can do for you. Simply, we believe a healthy diet, rich in fruits, can provide benefits. If you have any specific medical questions you should consult with your doctor. High oxidized LDL Cholesterol levels and heart disease are very serious issues and you should work with your doctor to correct any issues you may have.


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