What would you do if you meet a new person and the first thing they say is clearly a lie? You’d likely runaway. Well, pretty much the first thing that Leptitoxtells you is a lie; its alleged creator Morgan Hurst doesn’t exist. Our advice: runaway!
Leptitox is one of the newer Internet diet scams looking to sell useless pills with the claim that it’ll guarantee weight-loss. It won’t. This scam is yet another one of the weight loss pill schemes that proliferate on the Web. The sad truth is the “hack” involves ingesting one of their overpriced placebo supplements. Their official website also states how it can help reduce hunger, increase metabolism, improve immune function, boost serotonin, support health cholesterol, and reduce blood pressure. We’re surprised they didn’t throw in “reverse global warming” and “create peace in the Middle East”. Sadly, the latter two wishes are more likely to occur than you achieving weight loss by popping these expensive pills.
There’s a reason this sales pitch is slick — they spend a lot of marketing money to get it to you. Who is paying for that? You are. And, like many scammers, they are using Clickbank to sell their pills so don’t assume you’ll get a refund. “Rock solid guarantee”…..don’t bet on it. The scammers bet on the fact that most consumers won’t seek refunds until after the 60-day period expires. In fact, they count on it.
If you look for a review of the product, you are deluged with lots of fake review or “scam” sites that simply direct you to the main sales site or offer some officious pablum talking about how the product is highly rated or recommended. The marketers for this service pay 75-100% commission for any referrals they generate. So these “affiliate marketers” create create fake review sites which effectively thwart any customer who is looking for real reviews. It is also a tactic to obscure any customers who have posted complaints or alerts about fraudulent claims. This affiliate marketing trick makes it very difficult for consumers to detect this and other such scams, As one persevering blogger has noted, scam artists rely upon these fraudulent reviewers to be using tags like: “does it work?”, “is it a scam?” or “verified review” to suck unsuspecting consumers into this fraud. In the case of the Leptitox, they are offering affiliate marketers $34, or about 50% of the $68.71 they expect to get you to pay. How can they promise that? Because they know they’ll be able to upsell — charge you for additional services — the poor folk that fall for this scam. See this posting below from Clickbank — the company they use to sell this bogus deal:
Why Leptitox Should Be Avoided
So what are you getting for your $25 per month? (one bottle per two months). The official website won’t reveal any of the “22 nutrients and plant extracts.” However, other affiliate websites touting these pills list a plethora of ingredients:
- Jujube
- Grape Seed
- Alfalfa
- Marian Thistle
- Apium Graveolens Seeds
- Chanca Piedra
- Taraxacum Leaves
- Brassicas
- Barberry
- Burdock Root
- Choline
- Chicory Root
- Methionine
- n-Acetyl
But none of these ingredients have any scientifically proven weight-loss properties. There’s no science to support them and, worse, most all of these offerings are horribly overpriced. That’s probably one of the reasons that the Federal Trade Commission recently cracked down on the crackpots selling these this supplement. And the National Institute of Health issued a warning about the use of these supplements.
There is simply inadequate evidence for anyone to make the claims that these nutrients result in weight loss. Yet, use of weight-loss supplements in the United States is fairly common. The government estimates that approximately 15% of U.S. adults have used a weight-loss dietary supplement at some point in their lives. So far, the marketers appear to be winning…..and weight-loss consumers losing.
Other Warning Signs About Leptitox
This diet pill is incredibly expensive for a mere 60-day supply, with a single bottle costing $49 when taking shipping fees into account. The manufacturer states that they offer a money-back guarantee and that customers can try the product 100% risk-free, but this is incredibly misleading, as the return period is only for 15 days and opened products cannot be returned. So, for your $49+ shipping fees per month, you are being sold a bunch of obscure herbs that probably won’t hurt you, but will set you back some $600 per year. And the weight loss you experience is more likely to result from changing your food intake than from these placebo pills.
The “creator” of this pill is identified as Morgan Hurst. But according to Contrahealthscam.com, a credible reviewer of health supplements, Hurst doesn’t exist. And the pictures of Hurst are that of a paid actor. Similarly, the testimonials are apparently faked as well. And most of the research cited by the marketers apparently doesn’t exist.
Leptitox is a very clever marketing scheme designed to sell even more product — or, what marketers call, converting. Converting is all about luring in a consumer with one product and then “upselling” even more products and services. Leptitox brags about its converting prowess on its affiliate webpage:
Why We Consider Leptitox a Weight Loss Supplement Scam
Weight loss scams are nothing new. In fact, the FTC has been prosecuting false diet claims since 1927. However, the Internet has greatly accelerated the speed and impact of scammer successes by gaining access to wide audiences and making it easy for them to reap large profits.
This blog spends quite a bit of time exposing some of the worst offenders, but we’ve only scratched the surface. Regulators have the same problem; since 2005, the FTC has brought 82 cases against scammers for using false or unsubstantiated claims about weight-loss products, and yet they continue to proliferate. We can try to help protect you, but you’ve got to be alert to the sophisticated tricks being used by the weight-loss scammers. Here are some red-flashing lights to alert you to a probably scam:
- The product claims you will lose more than one pound per week. Diet experts believe about one pound per week is the ideal rate for healthy weight loss. Any product that claims it can shed weight faster is probably too good to be true.
- The product advertises you can lose weight without diet or exercise. It’s not fun to hear, but if you really want to lose weight, a diet and exercise are the only proven and healthy paths.
- The pictures accompanying the ads show dramatic “Before” and “After” pictures.
- Promises substantial weight loss no matter what or how much you eat.
The problem has gotten so severe that Congress has held formal hearings to determine whether new laws would help curtail the scourge of false advertising. Sadly, the hearings didn’t result in any useful reforms. But there are a number of things that YOU can do to avoid getting suckered by the weight-loss swindlers. Just like how magicians don’t want to show you how to do a trick, the scammers don’t want you to know their tricks. That’s why we are going to bust them and show you their tricks.
TRICK #1 – Endorsements and Friend Referrals
Advertisers are beginning to realize that millennials have begun to catch on to the fraudulent ads. Most young consumers no longer trust ads — instead they rely upon referrals by their friends. So, the Net shysters have retaliated by creating fake referrals. That’s why many recent email scams have used Americans’ faith in their loved ones against them by hijacking email addresses to make it look like the scammers’ pitch was coming from a close friend or family member. In addition, these emails send readers to false versions of respected news websites, giving their false claims an air of objectivity, because even people who might not trust Uncle Fred’s diet tips might accept claims made by faux-journalists.
TRICK #2 – Before and After Pictures
The camera never lies….right? You know better than that. And when it comes to weight-loss photos and testimonials, you can be sure that the weight-loss tricksters are playing fast and loose with the camera. Just read two stories: one by a weight-loss model who was paid to lose weight in 30 days and one by a guy who explains how the camera can be used to fake weight loss. You’ll never believe a Before and After picture again……nor should you.
These, and other tricks, make it possible to show a 10- to 20-pound weight loss on a scale in a matter of hours. Dehydration techniques (fasting and spending time in a sauna) used by wrestlers and martial artists has allowed athletes (especially fighters) to lose 13 pounds in 24 hours. But it’s simply water weight loss, and posture manipulation, both of which are temporary. Yet, these illusions helps sell thousands of weight loss gimmicks every year.
Other fraudsters will use stock photos and alter them. If you aren’t sure if the images are authentic, use Google images to perform a reverse-image search. Google can show you all the places using a specific picture. The method for doing this varies based upon your Web browser. Just search “Reverse Image Search Google” to quickly find the instructions that will work best for you.
TRICK #3 – Promise Weight-Loss With No Scientific Support
Like a lot of other Internet scams, Leptitox claims that it will eliminate toxins. The concept that toxins are behind your weight-gain is a scheme used by snake oil-salesmen to sell products cloaked in pseudoscientific babble on late night television and throughout the Internet. Untold numbers of believers swear by detoxes and cleanses — a group that includes such celebrities as Dr. Oz, Donna Karan, the Kardashian klan and Gwyneth Paltrow, who recently launched her own $425 goop cleanse. Yet, it’s all a money-driven myth. Marketing materials for detox treatments typically describe an array of symptoms and diseases linked to toxin buildup: A few that are general enough to apply to anyone (e.g., headache, fatigue, insomnia, hunger) with a few specifics to frighten you (cancer, etc.) Which toxins cause which disease is missing, and how the toxins cause the symptoms is never actually explained. There’s absolutely no scientific support for most of the “detox systems” and “cleanses” marketed by various companies. The British organisation Sense About Science has described some detox diets and commercial products as “a waste of time and money
Despite the variety of toxins that are claimed to be causing your illness, marketing claims for detox treatments cannot specific toxins to specific symptoms or illnesses. Some detoxification proponents claim that intestinal sluggishness causes intestinal contents to putrefy, toxins are absorbed, and chronic poisoning of the body results. This “autointoxication” theory was popular around the turn of the century but was abandoned by the scientific community during the 1930s. No such “toxins” have ever been found, and careful observations have shown that individuals in good health can vary greatly in bowel habits.
Like Master Cleanse, CleanseSmart, Detox and Cleanse Complete, Clean Program, Tava Tea, Red Smoothie Detox, UltraClear and the hundreds of other promotions promising cleansing and detox diets, Leptitox is peddled by scam artists who know exactly what to say and do to convince people to buy that $50 bottle of potion or pills that will supposedly change your life. There is a big difference between these cons and diets, like that popularized by former President Bill Clinton, which focus on healthy eating. Lifestyle changes work — detox/cleanses simply don’t. Could all of those marketers be lying? Sadly, yes.
In 2009, a network of scientists assembled by the UK charity Sense about Science contacted the manufacturers of 15 products sold in pharmacies and supermarkets that claimed to detoxify. The products ranged from dietary supplements to smoothies and shampoos. When the scientists asked for evidence behind the claims, not one of the manufacturers could define what they meant by detoxification, let alone name the toxins. Or check out the detox dossier; a group of scientists examined 15 common “detox” products, from shampoo to juices to foot pads. All the products failed to explain what “toxins” they were combating or how their product worked, and there was no evidence of usefulness for any of them.
Most of the “toxins” that detox diets supposedly “cleanse” you of either don’t exist, or are nonissues because your body is completely capable of dealing with them on its own. “Too much food” is not a toxin, regardless of how guilty you might feel about it. Yet, inexplicably, the shelves of health food stores and websites throughout the Internet are still packed with products bearing the word “detox” – it’s the marketing equivalent of drawing go-faster stripes on your car. You can buy detoxifying tablets, tinctures, tea bags, face masks, bath salts, hair brushes, shampoos, body gels and even hair straighteners. Yoga, luxury retreats, and massages will also all erroneously promise to detoxify. You can go on a seven-day detox diet and you’ll probably lose weight, but that’s nothing to do with toxins, it’s because you would have starved yourself for a week.
OUR SUGGESTION: Use Free Proven Weight Loss Plans Available on the Web
The vast majority of reputable health studies show that quick weight loss pills and potions simply don’t work. If you are serious about exploring a diet aid, check out these free and reputable dieting and weight-loss resources for you on the Net:
Livestrong Diet – Aims for a loss of about 1-2 pounds per week.
GM Diet – It’s not really a General Motors-designed diet plan. It’s actually a short one-week detox program. But it could be a useful starter to a major personal diet reboot. Linora Low gives a helpful (and free) step-by-step video and written guide to how to do this detox program.
The Lose Weight Diet – It does what many of the diet scammers do (take free information and distill it down to 3 easily understood phases) but he actually offers it for free!
Contrahealthscam recommends Truth From Within (Truth About Keto. It claims that this program by Brad Pilon is designed specifically for women in response to the 2017 keto craze that left a lot of women in hormonal disrepair. So if you are a woman who wants to lose weight the right way, Truth from Within is something you should try. It also recommends Eat Stop Eat, also by Brad Pilon has been studied extensively and has stood the test of time.
And if you are serious about wanting to shed some pounds, begin by going to the Mayo Clinic’s free and reputable website. The medical experts at the Clinic have fashioned a thoughtful and time-tested plan that has worked for untold numbers of people. Effective weight loss requires you to master the habits, urges, and feelings that rule our lives. It’s really all about learning more about your impulses. Once you do, you can create your “new” normal and the pounds will begin to disappear.
But whatever you do, avoid Leptitox and its unproven, overpriced placebo offering.
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