Weight loss scams are among the most common scams and with good reason. Many people want to lose weight and most of the scam products promise to do that for you easily without diet or exercise. Year after year, they are among the most common of scams, particularly at this time of year when many people make new year’s resolutions to lose weight.
The unfortunate truth is that there is no magic formula for quick and easy weight loss without diet and exercise, but scammers continue to prey on people looking for that quick solution to their weight difficulties. The Internet is filled with legitimate appearing websites and social media posts that tout scientifically unproven weight loss products and programs which often appear to be endorsed by various celebrities, however, many, if not most of these are just scams. Recently we have seen ad with convincing videos of celebrities such as Kelly Clarkson and Oprah Winfrey who have both recently lost considerable weight endorsing keto weight loss gummies. However, the videos are deep fakes and neither Kelly Clarkson nor Oprah Winfrey has endorsed these products.
Some diet scams offer a free trial, but if you read the fine print (and rarely is there anything fine in fine print) you will find that you have signed up for a continuing, expensive program.
The prescription drug Ozempic which was originally developed to treat diabetes is being used for weight loss. It has not been approved by the FDA for weight loss although it is being prescribed for this off-label use. Since insurance companies generally don’t cover the cost of prescription drugs for weight loss, many people eager to try Ozempic are turning to online pharmacies for what is often referred to as generic Ozempic . No generic form of the drug has been approved by the FDA, and what people are receiving may be either ineffectual or even harmful. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy has a list of websites selling fraudulent and unsafe medications. Before even considering buying a prescription drug online, you should see if the site you are considering is legitimate.
TIPS
The truth is that there are no quick fixes when it comes to weight loss and you should be wary of any product that promises you can lose tremendous amounts of weight quickly without dieting or exercise. You should also be wary of any weight loss product that is sold exclusively either over the Internet or through mail-order advertisements. The best course of action is to ask your physician about the effectiveness of a particular weight loss product or program before you reduce your wallet in an effort to reduce your waistline.
As for celebrity endorsements of any product in this era of AI and deepfakes, you can’t trust your eyes and ears so always confirm any celebrity endorsement before you trust it. You can do this by going to the celebrity’s official website or social media. If the endorsement doesn’t appear there, it is a scam.
Finally, as we start the new year, I would also like to take this opportunity to ask you a favor. This year we are celebrating 12 years of Scamicide. During that time we have published more than 4,000 Scams of the day and been among the earliest to recognize and make you aware of a wide range of scams and identity theft threats including ransomware and #SIM swapping. Scamicide has received much national recognition including being names by the NY Times as one of the three best sources for information about Coronarivus related scams and touted by Senators Bob Casey, Elizabeth Warren and others during my testimony last year before the Senate’s Select Committee on Aging.. Scamicide is free and our goal is to help as many people avoid being scammed as possible and that is where the favor comes in. We would like each of you to consider asking three friends or family to subscribe to Scamicide. It is easy to do as indicated above and the more people who subscribe, the more people we can help. Thanks.
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