Here's a pretty reliable rule of thumb: If it's too good to be true, it probably is. Translated into weight loss terms? If someone tells you that all you need to do to lose weight is consume a certain product, it's a scam. The thing is, real, long-term weight loss comes only from making healthy, sustainable changes to your diet, including eating well and exercising.

So it's a pretty safe bet that Slim Coffee--a product that promises effortless weightloss of 5 lbs a week just by drinking a supplement-fortified coffee--is a scam, even though they have so-called 'clinical tests' to back up their claims.

And it's true, according to Diet Blog. The FTC recently pursued the manufacturers of Slim Coffee, resulting in a settlement of $923,000. So, it should go without saying but in case you were momentarily charmed by flashy ads and empty promises: Don't believe everything you see on TV.

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The Kimkins saga continues. If you haven't been following the story, you may want to check out our previous coverage on the subject. But basically, Kimkins is an Internet-based starvation diet scam that's drawn scrutiny and investigation in the past year or so. And a class action lawsuit, being joined by former Kimkins members who have suffered ill health due to following the so-called diet, is in the works.

According to a recent Consumer Affairs story, Woman's World Magazine issued an apology to its readers a few weeks ago for a story that appeared in the publication several months ago boasting about Kimkins. But the apology certainly didn't mean the fat 300-pound woman behind the scam -- who publishes fake "after" photos that are identified as her on the web site -- had to pay back any of the $1.2 million in membership fees that were paid in the booming months following the feature story.

But as a victim myself, I am happy to see anything that exposes Kimkins. No, I didn't pay membership fees and I've never followed the "diet." But the woman running the show did steal my words from another web site to put up on her own. She gave credit to the web site, but not to me. Either way, she never sought permission to publish the article. And when asked to remove it from her site, simply switched the accessibility of the page to members only. I don't know why she's so intent on keeping my words for members' viewing. The article was about managing type 1 diabetes. It must have been the title, Food Frugality, that caught her eye. But as with most words, context is everything.

[via Say No to Kimkins]

It's a scary thought to think about some people who wake up one day with a pain in their abdomen, having found out they had a kidney stolen. Urban legends regarding this organ thievery have been around for ages. Well, they were true, and now a kidney transplant ring based out of India is getting shut down.

The hunt started in 1993 after authorities began trying to capture Doctor Amit Kumar. The evidence is mounted against him -- upwards of 600 kidneys are known to have been stolen under his command. You may be asking yourself, who in the world would sign up to take advantage of this service?

Clientele included needy patients from five countries. Even a couple of Americans were caught on the waiting list. But what about the victims? Indians from a poor background were scammed into selling their kidneys during an alleged job interview. But there was no job for these people to have -- only robbery. Thankfully this ring is getting busted, and hopefully the investigation roots out more criminals.

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According to this post on Diet Blog, Controversial author Kevin Trudeau is being sued by the FTC for mis-representing his book, the Weight Loss Cure, in infomercials. Ads promoting the book make several false claims, including suggesting that the plan is easy to follow (it's not) and that it requires a short-term commitment with long-term results (it's a life-long commitment.)

Still, Trudeau is used to bad publicity -- he's a well-known fraud who has been pushing all sorts of products for years. He's been a target of the FTC for a long time. And yet his books still are selling millions of copies. Want to know more about Kevin Trudeau? Read this.

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Good news for those of us whose inboxes are bombarded with endless spam offering the ultimate weight-loss solution (read: everyone with an email address), here's been a small victory in the form of this lawsuit. A judge has issues a restraining order against a Nevada-based neutraceuticals company that's been making false or unsubstantiated weight-loss claims against it's products, which include ones containing Hoodia Gordini, via Email spam. Apparently, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) logged over 85,000 Emails from the defendant, Sili Neutraceuticals LLC and owner Brian McDaid, doing business as Kaycon Ltd.

What do you think about this ruling -- should freedom of speech prevail or should we be working harder to shut down all scammers and spammers?

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Hot on the heels of my Goji Juice post, I saw this one on Kombucha Tea on Fitsugar. It's been called a 'miracle cure-all', and call me a skeptic, but once something has been touted as miracle cure-all, I'm pretty convinced it's a scam.

So just what is this tea? It's a fermented drink, made of a combination of bacteria and yeast. Mmmmm, sounds delicious. It's been popular in China since the 200s BC, and though it's popular with people the world over, including celebrities, it's supposed 'benefits' haven't been confirmed. That's not to say it's not effective -- many people report increased energy -- but I have issues with companies that claim their product is a miracle cure-all when they have no scientific evidence to back it up. But I suppose a slogan along the lines of 'A few people say it makes them feel great!' isn't nearly as effective.

Have you tried it?

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