In the early cowboy days of America, travelling salesmen posing as Doctors and medical specialists used a horse-drawn wagon to travel around from which they sold their wares, mostly fake medicines and non-working magical cures [Snake Oil] that would solve every problem going.
They no longer travel by horse, in fact, they no longer even travel, now instead of a horse and cart they use various modern electronic media to promote their wares, Video Adverts on YouTube, Sales pitches on Amazon, pop-up's on websites, Television adverts, and constant phone messages.
Take a good look at the advert below!
Regeneration Compound
Just take two drops of 'Axolot' in your morning coffee, and within three weeks the limb you had amputated will begin to regrow.
The US Pharmaceutical companies are pushing the US and UK Government to stop us selling it to you as it will cost them billions in over the counter useless and unnecessary medications.
But hurry, stocks are very limited, and. Act now before stocks run out!
Read all about this amazing product below.
I am a twenty two year old senior professor of Biology and Genetics, who has studied at Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge. I have worked for M.I.T and many of the worlds top Bio-Science laboratories.
After studying the Genetics of Axolotl for over twenty years I discovered and separated the elusive LMAO gene that causes limb repair and regrowth.
But after seeing the pharmaceuticals company's greed and them wanting to charge you many thousands of pounds for the product, I along with two other colleages left the well-known pharmaceutical company to create our own private company so we can sell it to you at almost base cost.
Time is running out before this advert is taken down.
Only 50 left in stock, order now and get it before its too late, ONLY $99.99
Be totally honest - and if you say no, then why not?
Obviously the above is a fake advert, full of unbelievable promises and uncertified facts.
How can a twenty year old be a senior professor and have worked at so many places?
How is this miracle cure or the new unknown gene not widely known in the field of medicine?
If they have found the way to make this product, then why are there so few of them left?
Who is going to take down the advert? - You have just seen it!
YET MANY PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE THESE FAKE CLAIMS AND PART WITH THEIR MONEY
These scammers are experts at what they do, they often carefully choose who they attack, the vulnerable, the elderly who do not understand and who maybe can be more easily fooled, or those with low income levels who will be desperately looking to reduce their out-goings.
They often prey on vulnerable people, those who are already suffering due to illness, and who are desperately hoping for such a magical cure. The people who would give away their last penny if it meant they received any form of relief.
They prey on those who already have financial issues, offering cheaper bills / ways to save money.
They often use wording and images that give the impression the offer is legitimate, add fake claims of being associated to known major universities or companies, and that they are used by the military, Special Forces, specialists experts in the field, sometimes showing photographs of known personalities to help convince you.
If 'Millions have found the secret' and tried it with such amazing results, , then why is it not well-known and on offer everywhere?
They blind you with fictional or pseudo science, using fancy sounding words and made up technical, medical or scientific sounding terms or acronyms , and with promises of something that is so amazing you just cannot do without it.
They are great at convincing you that you really need their product through endless repetition of the product name and exaggerated facts and abilities.
These adverts have increased since the arrival of the Corona Virus, often offering false protection, and increased again since the economic issues caused by the current Ukraine/Russia war.
The producers of these fake advertisement's play on the human mind.
Naturally we all want to have 'nice things', and when we do decide to buy an item we always want the 'Best that we can get', and of course we all like to think we have got a bargain and have saved money by getting it cheaper while on special offer.
So they use this human mind-set, and make their product appear so amazing, 'ten times better than the competition', better made using more expensive components, with longer lasting batteries, with Longer Range, extra features, and all offered at one time only unbeatable price'.
ALL THE THINGS WE WANT TO HEAR!
Every time we turn on our devices we are swamped with these adverts
'Magical' devices that can 'Straighten out and clean our electricity', to 'Restricted military technology'
Torches that are so powerful the light can burn through wood or metal, binoculars that can see better than the Hubble space telescope, Devices that can give us our broadband anywhere in the world, or 100% safe applications for our devices that can manage our money on the stock market and make us millions.
All hoping that we are blinded with science, or in such desperate need that we ignore the false flags and send them our money with the hope of getting something that can help us.
These devices are gaining popularity on sites such as Wish.com or on Amazon
Things are not always as they seem, do not be fooled.
MANY OF THESE DEVICES ARE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS !
Below I have tried to find some of these 'FAKE PRODUCTS'
Take a good look, see if you can spot the false claims, or the facts and details that just do not make any sense, learn how they twist words and use fake images and video to convince you that they are legitimate.
AND ENSURE THAT YOU ARE NOT FOOLED INTO BELIEVING!
To try to prove this, a friend and myself produced a 'Fake Product' as a joke.
Go back in time to the Mid 80s, No internet, Computers just about starting to appear in the home, and CB Radio being the 'In-Thing!'. Now the CB Radios of the eighties were limited in performance by the government with a 4 watt maximum output, making distance difficult in built-up areas.
Of course radio users were eager to maximise their radios transmitting performance, buying bigger and better aerials (Twigs), and using more powerful microphones etc. All eager to be able to broadcast an extra mile and be the most heard on the airwaves. They constantly worried about their SWR readings (Reflective energy from aerials) checking, re-checking and adjusting, trying to get the best reading. And they were always looking for something to ensure this.
Our 'Snake Oil' was a magical 'Anti-Swr Powder', which when sprinkled around the base of the aerial reduced this reflective energy. And of course the aerial would work much better if it was kept clean, so the offer also came along with a special aerial cleaning spray. We were eager to see how many of our club members would fall for the scam and buy it.
A scam it most definitely was, the powder was simply cheap talcum powder purchased from a local shop (the days equivalent of a Poundshop), and the cleaner a cheap plastic spray bottle designed for home mixed hairspray containing nothing but water and a squirt of vinegar to make it smell like a 'Special scientific super chemical'. I think everything we needed to make 10 kits would have cost us under £1, and with a few freshly printed labels from the new home computer it was ready to go.
At the next club night, the few that we had made up went like hotcakes, everyone eager to be the first to buy, and willing to pay pounds for the privilege of having them now, with the remainder of members asking to be informed the minute a new supply arrived.
Of course, the products did absolutely nothing, apart that was from making odd looking white circles around the garden, making their hands smell like a fish and chip shop after meticulously washing down the metal aerials, and making them feel a fool when it was all revealed.
The money made was thrown back into the pot to buy the next round, so nobody was 'Scammed', but it certainly proved that people ignore common sense, and just using a few imaginary scientific sounding names on a home printed paper label, and the desperation to be better than the next person, could make them pay many times the cost of a useless product.
REMEMBER THIS STORY WHEN YOU LOOK AT YOUR NEXT ADVERT
DON'T GET TAKEN IN BY PSUEDO-SCIENCE, TERMINOLGY, OR UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS!
The BBC have a series on health which explores whether the medical advice is legitimate, and operations offered cheaply abroad are really safe.
This can be found on the BBC iPlayer.
Points to Ponder!
There seems to be a lot of adverts on the television at the moment for some amazing brand new just invented technology that was designed specifically for the Special Forces. What is it?
Its a set of headphones that do not go into the ear, but use the bone beside it. 'Just Invented'?.
My first job leaving school in 1975 was as an Audiology Technician at Guys Hospital in London, and for some patients that had irreparable damage to the inner ear we used a 'Bone Conduction' headset, and I believe these were already in use in the 50s and 60s and maybe even before that. They were not invented for the Special Forces or any other Military branch, they were made for patients with hearing loss and they were given away free on the NHS !.
This brings us to Hearing Aids. There are endless adverts for 'Hidden Hearing Aids' and at prices that require a mortgage. OK so they have improved over the recent years, they are smaller and no longer sit behind the ear, they now have Bluetooth connections and use noise cancelling microphones, but the technology used is cheap, they cost just a few pounds to make and in no way justify the hundreds of pounds they charge for them.
In the mid seventies, the standard NHS behind the ear hearing aids (BE11 / BE12) cost less than a pound to produce, and we gave them away in our clinics and provided free replacement batteries and repairs. The private companies around sold equivalent aids for up to £400, preying on poor elderly people who were desperate to hear their grandchildren. Exactly the same practice goes on today, and often without the specialised hearing tests that are provided by the ENT department at the hospital that will highlight the type of aid required.
DO NOT buy hearing aids from online companies, supermarkets, phone shops, or market stalls. Do it the right way, the cheapest way, go through your GP and get a referral to the hospitals ENT department, get your hearing professionally tested, and let them issue the most suitable hearing aid for your type and range of hearing.
Oh by the way, you cannot replace hearing that isn't there, that's why an aid is usually fitted to the better ear, it is to help prevent further hearing loss in that ear. So if these companies show them fitting aids to the bad ear, or try to convince you that you need two aids (one for each ear) then you will not get the hearing you expected. Selling two aids is just their way of getting twice the money from you.
One baffling online scam – involving a £138 dehumidifier and a wild journey to return it
To try to highlight fake goods, or surreptitious advertising, I have assembled some examples below.
My thanks and appreciation go to the various creators of the following videos that I have linked to to help me highlight these adverts or fake products.
Credit to: Eric C (The Art Of Noise)
Credit to: Computer Clan.
Credit to: bigclivedotcom
Credit to: bigclivedotcom
Credit to: Computer Clan
Credit to: Computer Clan
Credit to: Mrwhosetheboss
Credit to: Computer Clan
Credit to: Computer Clan
Credit to: Computer Clan.
Credit to: Computerr Clan
Credit to: Computerr Clan
Credit to: Computer Clan
Credit to: Computer Clan
