| Too
good to be true |
If
is sounds too good to be true, it probably is! |
| Scam
tactics introduction |
Snake
oil sellers have many tricks to make you part with your money |
| Hair
snake oils |
The
scam may have moved into the computer age but the objective is the
same - to make you part with your money! |
| What
is quackery |
Defining
what exactly quackery is can be difficult! |
| Weasel
words and phrases |
Weasel
words and phrases can be found on many web sites selling snake oils |
| Playing
the underdog |
Some
snake oil sellers like to exploit your sense of fair play to sell
their product |
| Money
back guarantee |
If
sellers are giving a money back guarantee on a product it must work
right? Wrong! |
| Confiding
in you |
Making
you feel special breaks down your normal defences against being duped |
| Peoples
desperation |
Snake
oil sellers are not averse to exploiting people who are emotionally
affected by their hair loss |
| Avoiding
direct claims |
Product
sellers often avoid making specific claims about their product but
lead you to think their product will help your hair regrow |
| Association
with reputable ideas |
Those
who want to sell a dubious product may try and gain respectability
by associating themselves with reputable people, organizations, and
scientific ideas |
| Avoiding
blind comparison |
Product
sellers often avoid comparing the effectiveness of their product to
a well known brand |
| Success
rate statistics |
Some
snake oil sellers may avoid giving you information on just how effective
their product is, or they may just plain lie! |
| Professional
publication claims |
Those
who want to sell a dubious product may try and gain respectability
by claiming their product or their research has been published by
magazines or medical journals |
| Professional
qualification claims |
Snake
oil sellers may try to make themselves more respectable by claiming
to have professional qualifications |
| Non-recognized
credentials |
Some
"wonder cure" inventors like to claim many scientific credentials,
but often these qualifications are not worth the paper they are written
on |
| Professional
claims |
Should
you believe someone when they say they are "the worlds number
one hair regrowth expert"? |
| Expensive
products |
The
more expensive and exclusive a product the more likely you are to
believe it works! |
| Personal
recommendations |
One
of the most convincing ways to sell you a hair regrowth product is
to give you testimonials from previous users |
| How
do they get away with it? |
Testimonials
about a product may sound fantastic, but should you really believe
them? |
| Reporting
false products to the authorities |
Options
for USA residents wanting to report a quack product |
