The Canadian Diet Fraud Report January 2007

As January rolls around this has traditionally been the time of the year when the Montreal diet fruad scene gets going with lots of promos.

Yet, in 2007 promotional activity is down considerably, and what activity there is now, is almost exclusively relagated to direct mail outs.

Traditional diet fraud advertising vehicles such as the Sun newspaper chain, tv guides, entertainment newspapers, and coupon inserts such as Shop and Save, and Smart Source have all been clean so far this year.

Here is a summary of what specific scams we are hearing about:

Products Marketed in Canada:

Ciren12: This product continues to be marketed out of Terrebonne, Quebec by an adult video distributor. They continue to use a mail drop in a shared office complex in the Toronto area. The website is still there, and calls go to the Terrebonne area.

Other than the website, the last reported newspaper ads were in September 2006 in the Sun newspaper chain in Western Canada.

The company continues to claim that there is McGill research involved in this product; that is completely untrue. The product is not approved in Canada, and most people who have contacted us have not lost weight.

Trim and Detox Patch: This product continues to be marketed out of an Ottawa suburban mailbox, the same mailbox location used years ago by another product known as Neoform 3000. This "patch" which is completely ineffective for weight loss, is also marketed in the U.S. via a Florida post office box number.

It is a Montreal based promotion. This product is promoted strictly by direct mailouts from purchased mail lists which target female magazine subscribers.

LipoSvelt: This product is being marketed out of an Eastern Ontario mailbox. This product is related to the U.S. promotion known as SupraSvelt Drops. Again, direct mailouts is how this one is done.

Rainbow Investigations has not heard recently about older Canadian promos like PapayaPlus or Neoform 3000.

Canadian Based Products Marketed in the U.S.

SupraSvelt Drops: This is the big one still on the market. We have been alerted by consumers that a major mailout appears to have just gone out. Many of our emails are coming from states such as Nebraska, Ohio, Kansas, etc.

This is marketed out of a Michigan UPS mailbox, and is fulfilled by a company to the south of Traverse, Michigan. The product consists of orthosiphon, and has not been shown to be effective in weight loss. The originating source of this promotion is in Montreal.

Consumers are asked to send in a post dated cheque, which is cashed 30 days after receiving the product supposedly. However, many consumers have complained to us that their cheques have been cashed prior to even receiving the product.

Le Marc de Raisins: This product is marketed out of a Montreal suburb, and uses a Long Island mailbox. Again, direct mailouts is the way of choice to promote this product. We have had a few people tell us that new mailouts have just gone out.

So that is the latest on the Montreal diet fraud scene. Keep those emails coming so we can report the diet fraud news, and look for our new website, hopefully sometime this spring.

Ron Reinhold.

Date of Story: Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Story Posted By: Ron Reinhold
Source: Ron Reinhold

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