The Anatomy of a Weight Loss Scam
It’s annoying to start driving away from a store just to find a pamphlet pinned under your windshield wiper. You have to either shake it loose with the wiper, pass it to yourself with the wiper as you continue driving with half your body out the window or actually stop the car, get out and remove it. Yesterday I found one on my window and, because I’m a good citizen, I stopped the car and removed it by hand. The curiosity was too much for me and I read it. It is the most outrageous, scammy thing I’ve ever seen. It is so scammy in fact that I came right home and started researching it. Here’s a picture of it:
The claim on the flier is “Lose 1-4 inches in less than 1 hour!” I suppose if you’re going to lie you might as well lie big, right. I went to their website (quickfitboulder.com) and read the tripe they’re peddling. The catch, and there’s always a catch, is that you have to attend a seminar to find out what they’re really up to. Well, they aren’t the smartest people because, while I was watching their testimonial videos, one of the ladies in a video let slip the word club lighthouse. Obviously I looked it up. There’s a website titled Lighthouse Health that, not surprisingly, has the same graphics as quickfitboulder and the same wording about “6 fat burning hormones”. What do they sell? You guessed it – Pills! They’re just another pill hawking club scam.
This got me thinking. What is the anatomy of a weight loss scam? Here’s what I’ve got: 7 signs you’re being scammed. Quickfit is 7 for 7.
1. No scientific evidence – baseless claims that sound scientific but aren’t don’t count.
2. Sucks you in before giving you information
3. Claims effortless results.
4. Claims to reduce fat in just one area of your body at a time – belly fat.
5. Claims any sort of previously unknown scientific discovery, A Miracle!
6. Claims a particular ingredient or piece of equipment is the solution to your problems.
7. Requires long term agreements and upfront payment.
I’ve run across scams before. Sendoutcards is a MLM scam that I’m particularly fond of exposing. Products like Alli for weight loss aren’t technically scams; they actually work. The problem is that they work at a price and they don’t work very well. Weight loss scams are among my favorites. People will fall for just about anything when they’re desperate. Acai berry is a scam. Most of us recognize that it is. But, if you’re unhealthy, the wording of an otherwise obvious trap might draw you in. There’s a reason that unethical people keep using the same deceptive techniques. They work! Sure, I can take a few pictures of me with a bottle of pills, post it on a website and start making money off desperate people who think I got in shape with pills. I could sell a crappy pull up bar and say that’s how I did it. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Weight loss isn’t impossible, and it’s not as hard as people think it is, but it still requires work and determination. There’s no escaping that fact.
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Agreed. The road to weight loss may not be easy, but the way to achieve that goal certainly isn’t a “secret.” It involves regular exercise and healthful eating…period. There’s no way around that.
Popping a pill to shed pounds is a frightening idea to me – and it makes me sad that people fall for these kind of scams.
Stephanie´s last blog ..TOP 10 Blog Posts of 2009
Stephanie, You’re right, it isn’t a secret. Unfortunately desperate people do desperate things which usually make no sense and always do no good. I’m sad about it too. I wish I could just stand up and help everyone see the light. But, scams have been around a lot longer than me, so I guess they’re effective.
Hello all bloggers!
I would like to take this opportunity to invite you all, dare you even, to come in to QUICKfit fitness studio for a FREE body wrap, and you will see for yourself that it is not a scam, but a perfectly natural, healthy way to get your body detoxified and back in balance, so that you can start losing fat and feeling better. Don’t hesitate to call me with any questions you may have. 303-993-7361
Hope to see you soon,
Rachel Summers
Executive Director
QUICKfit Fitness Studio
2835 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO 80301
Wait, Keith, you mean I have to work to get things I want? This is AMERICA! I shouldn’t have to work for anything!
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The problem for many is they think “If they can just get the weight off, everything will be ok… I’ll just put in the work and sacrifice for now.” Thing is though it’s a lifestyle change. There is no finish line on the road to getting fit.
I was an up and down weight person. Always relatively fit, but never 6 pack fit. I finally created a system that works for me and I did it when I gave up on diets, “special” nutrition that everyone wants to sell.
The point system goes like this:
+1 = Vigorous exercise and I am on my diet
+0 = No Exercise and I am on my diet
-1 = Vigorous exercise but I was off my diet
-2 = No Exercise and no diet.
I lost 30lbs doing this… The weird thing was, because I keep records every day I know my stats. Without knowing it would end up this way it seems for every +2 points I get I lose 1 lbs. and vice versa. I also increase my muscle, I marked out how much I could lift and watch it improve dramatically, no supplements.
There’s a few caveats with my fitness plan doing this, but nothing common sense wouldn’t already know… but if common sense were common, then scams like these wouldn’t take place.
Hethe: You’re completely right. Being fit is a lifestyle change more than anything. People think they can lose weight with the pills, programs and special diets when the fact is that those things might help but only after a mental change happens within. I like your system. Another thing is that people are notorious cheaters. Without records, like you say, they lie to themselves about how much they eaten and how vigorously they’ve worked out.
Believe me I know! I been there did that on whole bunch of different kinds of “plans.” After my last failed plan, (which in theory was good and healthy) and in complete frustration and saddness, I had to take a long look at my lifestyle. Many times, it wasn’t that I was trying to lie to myself, I just WAS. I didn’t realize how often I could (and did) “cheat” on my diet, or how little I might have worked out that month.
My point system was good AND bad. It was good because I got to see myself in reality, with an unbiased numerical value of my efforts… but it was bad when I had to face the facts and change :S
The bad faded pretty quickly though.
Having a + positive point number I worked real hard to earn all week to simply be destroyed on a weekend bender with my friends forced me think differentley. My choices of food and exercise became like the bell with Pavlov’s dog right before I decided to do/eat (or not do) them.
–>”Do I really want to eat the office donuts and get a negative score today?” Or…when I wake up in the morning “James is flying into town this week, I have to work out all so I can stay keep a positive score for the week.”
I wish I enjoyed running or playing sports everyday like some of my fit friends, but I don’t.
I just like to look good for the ladies! But that’s motivation enough for me…. AAAAaahhhh Yeah!