Sometimes I despair over the huge number of people who have no ethical issues with latching onto the latest buzzword to try and scam people with bullshit products. It doesn’t help that the general public is aware of said buzzwords, but doesn’t generally understand what they really mean.
Over the weekend one of my relatives asked me if I had seen that Russian dead alien video that’s been racking up hits on YouTube. I replied that I had not. Then they asked me if I thought it was a fake. Absolutely, I said.
It's an obvious implication of the theory, but no one mentions it.
As if to drive home the point of how profitable the hCG diet supplement scam is, it took less than 24 hours from the time that I posted that entry to the arrival of a spammer trying to submit entries promoting that . . . → Read More: hCG spammers descend on SEB in less than 24 hours.
You wanna lose weight? Try eating less and exercising more.
Well, not literally bullshit, but bullshit as in they-don’t-do-what-they-claim-to-do. I know, I know. A diet program that doesn’t work? That’s unpossible!
HCG weight-loss products are fraudulent, FDA says – USATODAY.com
[Update 7/14/2010: Another update from a commenter. This time the site is appearing as ELL Property Management and it just went live today. See the comment thread for details.]
This is a dual purpose story. First, it’s about dumbasses who believe psychics are real and end up allowing themselves to be scammed out of their money. Secondly, it’s about how a little skepticism can make all the difference.
From: “Mrs. Mellisa Lewis” <info@rcweb.net> Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:00:52 -0200 To: undisclosed-recipients: ;
Hello,
My name is Mrs. Mellisa Lewis . I am 59 years old and I was diagnosed for cancer for about 2 years ago. I will be going in for an operation later today.I . . . → Read More: This is a new take on an old scam…
In our continuing series on the question of “what’s the harm in letting people hold onto stupid beliefs” we bring you the following news item. It seems several families in Lakewood, WA have fallen for the old your-money-is-infected-with-evil-spirits-but-I-can-clean-it-for-you scam to the tune of $140,000:
Stupid Evil Comments