OFT sends out fake mailing to warn consumers about 'miracle' slimming scams

[Legal Beagles]

As part of its Scams Awareness month, the OFT has sent out thousands of fake slimming scam mailings to UK consumers.

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[Paule]

Re: OFT sends out fake mailing to warn consumers about 'miracle' slimming scams

OFT sends out fake mailing to warn consumers about 'miracle' slimming scams

25/08 22 February 2008
As part of its Scams Awareness month, the OFT has sent out thousands of fake slimming scam mailings to UK consumers.

The mailing promotes bogus 'Fat-Off' capsules which claim to guarantee weight loss of 20 pounds every week through a secret 'fat-eating' plant ingredient that goes to work while you sleep. However the mailing goes on to make clear that it has been sent by the OFT to help raise consumers' awareness of typical weight loss scams and highlight the tricks used by scammers.

Download the mailing here (pdf 546 kb). {Attached below}

OFT research has found that around 200,000 UK consumers lose an estimated £20million a year on miracle health and slimming scams with women making up 78 per cent of victims. These scams are normally circulated by post or email and promise that the product is a 'medical breakthrough' and that huge weight loss is guaranteed without exercise or dieting. Claims are often supported by fake testimonials from doctors and 'satisfied customers' and worthless 'money back guarantees'.

The OFT has taken action against a number of companies promoting misleading 'miracle' slimming products including a suction pad worn on the foot during sleep which claimed to suck out excess fat though a natural 'trap door' in the skin and a 'negative calorie' chocolate that burnt off cellulite and fat and of which it was claimed 'the more you eat the more you lose'.

Mike Haley, Director of Consumer Protection at the OFT, said:

'Slimming scams prey on vulnerable people who are desperate to lose weight. Unfortunately, victims are more likely to lose money than any weight. Anyone who is tempted to buy a slimming product should talk to a doctor or pharmacist before parting with any money.'

NOTES

1. The fake scam mailings have been sent to 20,000 female residents between 25 and 50 who have opted in to receive slimming or weight loss information using a DMA-approved broker.

2. Residents have been sent the mailings in areas including Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll, Avon, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, County Durham, Cumbria, Derbyshire, East Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, London, Merseyside, Norfolk, North Humberside, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Tyne and Wear, Warwickshire, West Glamorgan, West Midlands, West Lothian, Worcestershire, Yorkshire.

3. Case studies of people who have fallen victim to mass marketed slimming scams are available from the OFT press office. Representatives from Sense about Science, the charitable trust set up to promote good science, are also available for interview.

4. The Information Centre for Health and Social Care estimates that 1.06million prescriptions were made for obesity drugs by doctors last year.

5. The OFT has taken action against several companies promoting misleading slimming products. See OFT press releases 101/06, 4/07, 82/07, 89/07 and 169/07.

6. OFT Scams Awareness Month is part of an annual international initiative organised by the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network. The OFT has enlisted the support of local authority Trading Standards Services, Consumer Direct, the Advertising Standards Authority and other consumer and industry bodies.

7. If you think you have been the victim of a scam, or you suspect a scam, call Consumer Direct for clear, practical consumer advice on 08454 04 05 06 or visit the Consumer Direct website.

8. Mass marketed scams are an OFT priority. In 2005 the OFT launched a Scambusters team and set up the Scams Enforcement Group with partner organisations focusing on law enforcement; consumer education; and cooperation with private sector businesses to disrupt scammers' routes to market.