Don’t let scammers tip the scales of slaying your New Year’s resolution
BATON ROUGE, LA – Attorney General Jeff Landry has issued a consumer alert cautioning Louisiana residents of weight-loss scams.
“Pursuing a healthy lifestyle is a great idea,” said Attorney General Landry. “But I strongly encourage consumers to be cautious when purchasing anything that promises weight loss.”
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC): bogus diet products, centers, and programs are the top reported complaint amongst health-care-related scams.
Scammers tend to promise weight loss products that “melt,” “burn,” or “dissolve” unwanted fat. They use these tricks to promote unproven materials with little to no medical testing.
How to recognize if a weight loss product is FAKE:
- The product claims weight loss without diet or exercising.
- The product promises “instant and permanent” weight loss.
- Claims stating that in order to lose weight, all you have to do is take this pill, wear this patch, or apply this cream.
- The product lacks an ingredient list or is on the FDA’s list of potentially harmful weight loss products.
- The product cites a long list of clinical studies that are unrelated to the product, outdated, or performed on animals, not humans.
Attorney General Landry encourages consumers to report deceptive ads and products to the FTC by calling 877-FTC-Help. He also recommends checking out the National Institute of Health’s Dietary Supplement Fact Sheets and Nutrition.gov, a USDA-sponsored website that offers credible information to help you make healthful eating choices.
To learn more about scams and fraud, visit www.AGJeffLandry.com or call Attorney General Jeff Landry’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-351-4889.
Click here to report a typo.
Copyright 2021 KALB. All rights reserved.
