Easy Weight Loss And Free Cash: A Dubious Product Online Marketing Empire Revealed
I started out looking at the advertising and affiliate practices of one company, CreditReport America, and learned that the company that owns this site apparently produces a solid majority of the ads on the Web that annoy me.
Meet Just THINK Media of Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, and their online empire of dubious products. Magic weight loss tea, free government grants, acai and red wine pills, colon cleanser, free credit reports...if there are incessant ads for it everywhere on the Web, they probably sell it.
Here's how this all started. Last week, we published a story about apartment rental credit report scams that prey on innocent people searching for housing online. Quick summary: Scammers advertise nonexistent apartments, then tell prospective renters to go to a Web site for a purportedly free credit report, and pocket affiliate fees in the process.
Alert reader Phil looked up one of the credit report sites, CreditReport America, to let them know that an affiliate was generating business dishonestly. How seriously do they take the situation? His e-mail bounced. Not a temporary ISP outage bounce, either—the address abuse@creditreportamerica.com doesn't even have a mailbox. It's a breach of pretty basic protocol to not have an abuse@ email address set up for your site.
Phil found the address on the company's advertising practices and FTC compliance page, which doesn't explicitly forbid using fake real estate ads to earn affiliate fees. It does forbid spamming, so there's that, and the apartment ads thing is probably unforeseen from the company's point of view.
What's funny, though, is the last paragraph on that page:
Recommendation Handling
Proper advertising practice is at the top of our priority list, and we are therefore open to further improving our practices as reasonably requested by any one. All recommendations are taken very seriously, and are promptly reviewed by our advertising and legal department.If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, and/or any other issues regarding our advertising practices we urge you to forward them to abuse@creditreportamerica.com for an immediate review.
Immediate review, yeah.
I noticed something interesting on the advertising practices page, though. The sample page showing their amazing reader-tracking technology isn't the CreditReport America site. It shows an acai diet page—specifically, Acai Burn. Looking up domain registrations for CreditReport America and Acai Burn led me to Just THINK Media.
They have a very slick Web page, in Flash. According to their site, they are "quickly becoming the leader in online direct sales," and have generated hundreds of millions of Google Adwords leads. Let's peruse their products.
Wu-Yi Source
This is apparently their "flagship" product. The page doesn't sell tea so much as the idea of thinness and the possibility of effortless weight loss. They're a popular target on Ripoff Report, with 251 reports against them. The site has a bonus Asian dude giving a sales pitch in the corner. You know, because it's a well-kept Chinese weight loss secret. Customers allege that the tea is nothing special, but just has extra caffeine in it, and doesn't help with weight loss. Easy Weight Loss Tea is a similar site run by the same company.
Credit Report America
Yes, Credit Report America is based in Canada. Ha ha. We've already discussed at length on Consumerist why "free" credit report sites are bad. This is another one. Except that it has an old man in the corner who talks to you. Someone shut him up.
Government Funded Grants
Hey, it's that grandfatherly white guy from the credit report site! I remember him! This site charges you for information on how to get U.S. government grants. You know, like on that site grants.gov. The one that's free. Similar site: Gov Grants Direct.
The site's sales pitch even cites our parent publication, Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports magazine has reported that they literally hear "hundreds and hundreds" of reports of various government grant related scams throughout the year. Many of these scams seem obvious – and yet people still keep falling for them, time and time again.
Acai Burn
Effortless weight loss and bad Photoshopping? Sign me up. Similar to the Wu-Yi source site, and a pretty blond lady in a suit giving a sales pitch. We've been over this before. Don't fall for acai diet scams. Acai Burn Extreme is the same thing, but marketed to men. Maybe it contains barbecue sauce.
PureCleanse Pro
Colon cleanser. We've talked about this—you don't need to cleanse your colon unless a medical professional tells you to. Your body is set up to do that itself. This product is marketed as a weight loss aid, but there's a random embedded video about colon cancer in there, intended to imply that CBS news endorses colon cleansing pills.
Miracle Resveratrol
High-dose antioxidants derived from red wine. Or something. And some acai, too. Another "miracle" product to stop the aging process, help you lose weight, discipline your children, and balance your checkbook.
They also sell "Google cash kits" and home power plants, but I can't find those particular sites. I think we get the idea.
After all, the company's sites have a lot of common characteristics.
- They rely on affiliate marketing for sales—fake blogs, any way affiliates can get the links out there. High affiliate payouts are what led to the credit report scams featured here at Consumerist.
- The pages are very long. Too long, and repetitive. Lots of copy, lots of graphics, not enough disclaimers.
- The pages say "As seen on..." and show the logos of major media outlets. If you read the disclaimer, though, you learn that all this means is that the products have been advertised on those media outlets.
- Spokespeople appear on the pages and talk to you. They're actors from Live Face on Web.
- All operate on the free trial or inexpensive introductory item model, and depend on customers to cancel their subscriptions, memberships, what have you. Customers complain that their cards continue receiving unauthorized charges for months afterward.
It's not that Just THINK is trying to conceal their business model or that they own all of these sites. It's not hard to put the clues together. It's just fascinating to note the similarities between the sites, their pitches, and even their products. Sort of like window shopping in a strip mall where every store sells Amway.
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Comments:
This is why I only buy products endorsed by either Billy Mays or Anthony Sullivan. Those two would never cheat me, and the only deceptive practice I have seen is Billy's GLH-9ed beard/mustache.
Nice writeup, Laura. Thanks for bringing some original research to the site. Also, can you please confirm whether or not the Acai Diet X-Treme 9000, or whatever, has barbecue sauce? You have piqued my interest in that fine sounding product.
Anyone going to write about the one with the nuclear fusion and the peanut butter-powered space station?
@WiglyWorm: He's only advertised 2 products. Not enough for me. Besides, I doubt his claim that by using his SlapChop my life will cease to be boring and will become exciting. That is like promising it will turn lead into gold.
Since many of these scams seem to be centralized when people look deeper, doing something about it could be quite easy.
The auto warranty scams seem to be perpetuated by a handful of companies in one city. These scams the same. At least in the case of the online ads wouldn't it be possible to do some wholesale blocking of them via adblock programs, google and ISPs?
@TheTriStatesBestSide_GitEmSteveDave: OMG, SlapChop! How I covet thee...just saw a commercial again last night. I was tempted I tell you, tempted!
Somehow, I've gotten on these folks email list and have spam up the wazoo for each of these "products". Some of the subject lines are actually pretty amusing, I must admit. Luckily, my spam filters are working quiet well.
The main problem is that business laws and regulations, in both the U.S. and Canada are so toothless and ineffectively enforced that these kind of scam companies make tons of money using very questionable tactics with absolutely no action taken against them by any authority.
A rule is useless if it's not enforced.
@Bearded Rapper: I can see it now... a dramatic science fiction epic that would challenge our concepts of what it is to be human, and to bring us to question the pivotal moments in life as our protagonist must balance himself at the fine line of starvation or suffocation in space, as he races against the clock to sustain himself with the station's peanut butter thrusters, but yet must preserve enough power to guide his doomed vessel homeward.
It's the new Apollo 13.
Maybe it's just coincidence, but in the late 1980's many of the snail mail pyramid schemes (oops, MLM clubs, recipe clubs) came out of Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada.
Very good investigative skills there :)
I just went people shopping at LiveFaceOnWeb.
Pretty creepy. And very white.
www.timecube.com ...I wonder what he's selling
Are these the guys behind "Lose 35 lbs a month by following this one [or two] simple rule[s]! Obey." or "How a stay at Mom discovered a secret for white teeth!"
I read the last one as "Miracle Reversitol," which I assumed was some kind of wonderful mind-erasing mistake-correcting drug.
Now, I will put my wallet back.
Wow, these are the people who fraudulently charged my credit card for a bunch of things I didnt order.
Turned it in to the attorney general for illinois.
@dragonfire81: They run inbetween the cracks in the system- no police force will take a theft report on $35 scammed via an bogus online ad especially if the person got something for the purchase price and the company is in another country. Yet the larger gov't entities don't move until 1000s of people complain and even then the gov't moves so slow that the scammers may have shut down one company and are onto their next version...
So... Blame Canada?
ComplaintsBoard.com is so clogged with complaints about acai, colon cleanse, and google cash kits, I was beginning to think they were fake. I guess they aren't.
Why isn't some DA somewhere making a big ol' fat example of this company yet?
HAHAHA. Oh my god. Okay, my boyfriend actually applied to work for these guys like, months ago. Goes to their website after applying to do graphic design for them and the first thing he says to me is, "These guys have got to be scammers, look at their website and their 'clients'" and I just sent him this article and he laughed his ass off. These guys are total scammers. It's like a bunch of twenty year old kids working in a room. Wow. He went for the interview and the guy is like 'Yeah we'll do a trial run with you and we'll just pay you cash' and my boyfriend was like, yeaaah no thanks. Wow. Can I say it again? Totally amused to see them on this website. Thanks for making me giggle and confirming our suspicions!- Victoria
I still say that if a million people all signed up and then canceled, the resulting chargeback fees ($75 a pop) when they fraudulently charged their cards would send these guys straight into bankruptcy.
"Yes, Credit Report America is based in Canada. Ha ha."
Umm, isn't Canada considered North America?
In addition to getting people to get a credit report for an apartment/rental agreement, they are also using advertisements for employment to get people to sign up there. I replied to someone saying they were hiring for the paper storage company Iron Mountain, but their reply was from "mphillips.ironmountain@gmail.com" and they told me I had to get a "free credit report" from that website.
My Wife has accepted the $4.95 us Trial Offer. We have now threatened legal action, even though it was hard to find actual email contacts, and have requested the return of over $120 au to our account. Be very, very careful, they are obviously scammers as even the return post address on the product appears false. Trevor Preece Qld, Australia
Great investigative job, Consumerist. Now the public is alerted. LISTEN UP, PEOPLE!
Obviously there are little or no scruples left in our advertising/marketing, but isn't any of this high-tech shell game stuff actually illegal? Is there no one who can stop it?
I dont think most of you know how big this thing really is...
Just Think Media's president is yes, only 22 or 23. His names is Jesse Willms. He works closely with a few others and run 100s, if not 1000s of these scams... He is now very rich and very low profile.
Trying to search online it took me 4 hours just to find a real picture of him and his partner in crime.
They have enough money to have 24 hour call centers for most of the products listed, and some even have 24 hour chat assistance. They employ 1000s of people in hundreds of locations.
They had enough money to settle lawsuits with Microsoft and other companies for over $1,000,000 a piece.
When you try to find the headquarters of these bogus companies you find yourself in a web of fake addresses, empty warehouses and PO Boxes....
The only thing i dont understand is why, if it can all be traced back to Just Think Media in Canada, isnt it shut down yet?
And with all these people working for this scam, why doesnt anyone seem to talk about it?
Contact me at~ BlueSept22@gmail.com
Hello,
First off, I would like to apologize if you have had a negative experience with one of our products. If you have any
questions or concerns please email us at "Support@DazzleWhite.com" and ask that the email me forwarded to
Shalyn R. . The email will be forwarded to my personal email and I will personally respond and assist you from
that point. Here at Just Think Media customer service is one of our top priorities. We are constantly working hard
to improve customer service in as many ways as possible. We strive to offer the customer the best support we
possibly can. We always respond to all customer emails and complaints in a timely matter. We also offer 3
different ways to contact the company. We offer email support, live phone support, and live chat. All our contact
phone numbers are listed below:
866-989-8945- AcaiBurn
866-989-8946- PureCleanse
866-989-8947- ResV
866-989-8949- Wu-Yi
866-989-8950- Google
866-989-8951- Grants
866-989-8952- Credit Report America
866-989-2684- Fraud Protection
866-989-2683- ID Theft
800-989-5907 - Comprehensive Weight Loss
866-989-2685 - Insider Secrets
866-989-2686 - Dazzle White
866-989-8952 - Credit Report America
866-989-2690 - PureLiftCream
All websites have the terms and conditions are listed in more than one place and clearly explain the offer details.
The customer actually has to physically check a box stating they have read and agreed to the offer details in
order to proceed with placing the order. The offer details are listed above the "check box" so the customer can
clearly see the offer details before clicking "Yes, I agree".
Just Think Medias products are of the highest quality. All products consist of clinically proven ingredients. We are
so confident in all our products that we offer a full 60 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE on all physical products.
All we request is that the customer simply return the unused portion within 60 days of being charged and we will
offer them a full refund less the shipping charges.
Again, I do apologize if you have had a negative experience with our company. If you would like to contact me
personally please email us at Support@dazzlewhite.com and ask that your email be forwarded to Mark A. I will
personally respond to you from there.
Thank you,
Shalyn R.
Noooooo!
/sings Take! These broookeen wiiiings!
Sing it with me now!...