Watch out for Anti-Aging Scams

Con artists have become much more sophisticated in recent times and fraudulent activities are rising. Scammers have perfected their skills, making it very difficult to differentiate the good products from snake oil, especially on the internet. With an array of tools, from fake blogs and testimonials to imitation news stories and bogus reports, it is becoming ever more important to learn how to protect yourself.

How to Avoid Anti-Aging Scams Online

• Be skeptical. You know the age old saying, “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is?” Anything claiming to be a miracle or overnight cure is most likely not and should be researched thoroughly before trying out.
• Reverse psychology. Using headlines like, “Anti-Aging Exposed” or “Product Warning,” scammers will try and add credibility to their bogus claims through the use of reverse psychology. This technique starts with the scammer claiming to investigate products on your behalf and ends with them allegedly discovering that the miracle claims are actually true… yeah right.
• Fake blogs. Blogging is all about sharing your personal experiences and reading blogs can be a great way to find real life testimonials about products you are interested in. However, fake blogs with fabricated stories and bogus claims are widespread online. When evaluating the credibility of a blogger it’s important to lookout for a two things: 1. How many quality posts does the blog have? If it’s only got one page, it’s obviously a fake. 2. Do all the posts link to products with positive reviews? A blog full of nothing but positive reviews and excessive product linking is a red flag.
• Fake news articles. With consumers catching onto the fake blog scheme, scammers have started imitating news articles. Like the blogs, it can be very tricky to distinguish a fake news article from a real one and you should keep an eye out for these two things: 1. Real news sites will have lots of articles, not just one or two. 2. Real news sites do not excessively link to products.
• Fake review pages. Be wary of “Top 3 Anti-Aging Product” and similar sites. Unless the review is published by a credible source, do not trust the reviews. Sites dedicated solely to ranking and reviewing a specific type of product will claim to have done an extensive analysis using a large group of product reviewers, but 99% of the time the results are completely fabricated.
• Know your credibility indicators. Pictures of random doctors in lab coats, claims of celebrity connections and fabricated product certifications are all blatant attempts at trying to give a scammer’s product credibility. When you see indicators like this, it is wise to steer clear of the site in question.