What would you do if you meet a new person and the first thing they tell you is clearly a lie? You’d likely runaway. Well, pretty much the first thing that Banned/Underground Fat Loss Manual tells you is a lie: its creator Matt Marshall doesn’t exist. And that’s not the only lie to which you’ll be subjected. Our advice: runaway!
The Banned Fat Loss/Underground Fat Loss scheme claims that Matt Marshall authored a controversial fat loss book that ensures that you’ll lose massive amounts of fat. Another version of this diet scam can be found hawking the Underground Fat Loss Manual. This more recent version promises 6-8% body fat levels (12-16% for women) “with minimal effort”. Yet, at the same time it warns that this diet is not for wimps. In fact, Matt Marshall probably doesn’t exist. This diet plan is crafted by Internet marketers. The target of these unscrupulous marketers is people who don’t trust Western medicine. As you’ll read below, you are all getting played by clever, but greedy, marketers. And, as you’ll learn below, the reason that this scheme is “banned” and “underground” is because they deserve exactly that fate. If you fall for their fake diet scam, your wallet is the only thing that will be lighter, by about $20 poorer.
In addition to the Banned/Underground Fat Loss Manual, recent Net offerings include Fat Obliterator, Venus Factor Weight Loss, Trouble Spot Nutrition, Fat Diminisher, The Truth About Cellulite, Pound Melter and the Weight Destroyer, just to name a few. Their slick websites ask for the “low price” of $20-39.95 for what appears to be an ebook or a “program” that “guarantees” weight loss. This is a textbook version of the numerous other infoscams that have infected the Web over the last three years. The Banned/Underground Fat Loss Manual has opted to charge $19….which is pretty standard.
Here’s how it works: you are treated to a videomercial that touts the “proven way to lose weight; many of them are targeted specifically at women. Is it a scam? Is it a rip-off? Does it work? You’ll never find out, largely because of an increasingly pernicious Internet industry that uses fake product review sites to hide customer reactions. You’ll also never be able to find out about the credentials of the authors — none apparently exist on the Internet, nor are they provided at his own alleged web site. So, should you spend the $19? We recommend not, for the following reasons:
1. There’s a reason this sales pitch is slick — they spend a lot of marketing money to get it to you. Who is paying for that? You are. And, like many scammers, they are using Clickbank to sell their ebook so don’t assume you’ll get a refund. “Rock solid guarantee”…..don’t bet on it. The scammers bet on the fact that most consumers won’t seek refunds until after the 60-day period expires. In fact, they count on it.
2. If you look for a review of the product, you are deluged with lots of fake review or “scam” sites that simply direct you to the main sales site or offer some officious pablum talking about how the product is highly rated or recommended. The marketers for this service pay 75-100% commission for any referrals they generate. So these “affiliate marketers” create create fake review sites which effectively thwart any customer who is looking for real reviews. It is also a tactic to obscure any customers who have posted complaints or alerts about fraudulent claims. This affiliate marketing trick makes it very difficult for consumers to detect this and other such scams, As one persevering blogger has noted, scam artists rely upon these fraudulent reviewers to be using tags like: “does it work?”, “is it a scam?” or “verified review” to suck unsuspecting consumers into this fraud. In the case of the Underground/Banned, they are offering affiliate marketers $21.24, or about $2 more than they are charging you. How can they do that? Because they know they’ll be able to upsell — charge you for additional services — the poor folk that fall for this scam.
3. In the case of the Underground Fat Loss, the alleged author is allegedly a man named Matt Marshall. Because of his common name, a Google search will take you to a number of different trainers named Matt Marshall. One writes for the Tried & True blog, another works at 24-Hour Fitness. But the Matt Marshall who claims to have devised this program admits that he’s stayed underground. Cleverly, the websites hawking the this diet offers no qualifications or credentials about the author. Moreover, many of the pictures posted on the website are stock photos purchased from online graphics companies.
4. There are no specific details about the weight-loss regimen, other than that it isn’t for wimps and that its been banned from Amazon and Facebook. You’ll never get any specifics about the plan, because there really isn’t a diet plan as much as a marketing plan. It admits to using nicotine gum to burn fat (note: nicotine is highly addictive and depresses your appetitie) Check out how these marketers explain their program to affiliates: it’s all about upselling and getting more money out of their “marks”.
So once you send your hard-earned money to “Matt Marshall”, you become ensnared in a sophisticated marketing scam designed to wring more money out of you using empty and vague promises. Oh, and by the way, the same author has yet ANOTHER rapid weight loss manual called The Rapid Fire Fat Loss Plan listed on Amazon. He wasn’t banned as much as no one seems to want to buy his book.
Then we went to the Library of Congress, because any published book must be registered with this Federal agency and assigned a ISBN number. Not only can the “Underground Fat Loss Manual” not be found in the Library of Congress, but the author has also apparently escaped the nation’s Central Library…….unless, of course, he’s been banned from that institution as well. We also did an ISBN search — as any book sold at any bookstore must have this number. Hopefully, you get the point at this point: Matt Marshall is not an accredited author and his “banned” book doesn’t exist.
5. Perhaps most importantly, there is an abundance of free or low-cost diets available on line. Sadly, most all of them don’t work. Fad diets been around for so long that we lose weight just calculating all of the weight loss schemes out there. They are all appealing because they make it look as though others have succeeded. But be aware that the only fat that melts away is whatever surplus existed in your checking account. In fact, fad diets that promise dramatic results often can be dangerous. Please know that no matter how well-intentioned you are, without a commitment to exercise and substantial lifestyle changes, you likely won’t succeed in maintaining any weight loss. And if you have that commitment or will-power, then just about ANY diet will succeed. You don’t have to pay $40 for the information. Begin by going to this free and reputable website and then follow-up with your doctor to make sure that the diet you’ve chosen will work for you. Another way is to use a high-protein diet or meal replacements; that’s one of the reasons why the Paleo Diet has proven so effective.
Another is through gradual weight-loss plans that change your lifestyle, and not just your calories. Perhaps most importantly, these are free or low-cost diets available on line. Please know that no matter how well-intentioned you are, without a commitment to exercise and substantial lifestyle changes, you likely won’t succeed in maintaining any weight loss. And if you have that commitment or will-power, then just about ANY diet will succeed. You don’t have to pay $37 for the information. Begin by going to the Mayo Clinic’s free and reputable website. The medical experts at the Clinic have fashioned a thoughtful and time-tested plan that has worked for untold numbers of people. Then follow-up with your doctor to make sure that the diet you’ve chosen will work for you.
Here are some additional free and reputable dieting and weight-loss resources for you on the Net:
Livestrong Diet – Aims for a loss of about 1-2 pounds per week.
GM Diet – It’s not really a General Motors-designed diet plan. It’s actually a short one-week detox program. But it could be a useful starter to a major personal diet reboot. Linora Low gives a helpful (and free) step-by-step video and written guide to how to do this detox program.
The Lose Weight Diet – It does what many of the diet scammers do (take free information and distill it down to 3 easily understood phases) but he actually offers it for free!
Our bottom line: you don’t have to spend $19 to get information about how to lose weight. And beware ANY Net-based sales pitch that has uncredentialed, slick video presentations with no independent reviews. It may not be a scam, but it is probably a rip-off because it is overpriced for what it is offering. In this case, there’s lots of good diet information in the marketplace offered at a fraction of the cost of most weight loss schemes. Save your hard-earned money.
One additional warning: once you give them your money, you’ll be tagged as “meat”. Once they know that you’ll fall for this pitch, the same marketers will be coming back to you over and over and over for other such pitches. So understand that if you pay these marketers anything….let alone $19…..they’ll continue to hound you with more slick schemes designed to prey on your fears and concerns. Don’t open your door or wallet to them.