Secret Diet Drops - A total scam!

Hi all!

After being bombarded with invites to him a secret diet drop group on Facebook (clearly a scam from the offset!!), I am truly amazed how this company are making the claims they are for what is effectively a bottle of useless liquid.

When enquiring further, it seemed that for the drops to 'work', you would need to consume less than 900 calories per day! Surely, most obese or overweight people would eat double and more than this most days, so surely reducing your calorie intake so quickly and carefully, you will lose the weight anyway!

It saddens me watching various members of their fb page stating their weight losses and put it all down to these drops. I don't understand why they can't see what's blaringly obvious throughout the whole 'how they work' thing.

Has anyone here used them and found a significantly improved weight loss? Do you really believe it was the drops and not the seriously restrictive diet?

Along with being unable to prove any of their claims, my GP advised me that although the contents would be unlikely to do you any harm, it also wouldn't particularly do anything positive either. Is this just a placebo for people?

How are this company taking people's money for something they cant prove works?!

I understand some of us are desperate to lose weight, but surely this company are taking complete advantage of those looking for an answer, any answer.

I won't be buying any of these ridiculous drops, given what a medically trained professional has said.
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Comments

  • geri1965_2
    geri1965_2 Posts: 8,736 Forumite
    Never heard of them. I'm guessing it's like the acai berries thing. Some people are gullible/stupid/desperate or whatever.
  • Please, report the company - I have, and I know others have, but it can't hurt to have more people come forward with their concerns. The company is based in Aberdeenshire, so comes under the purview of that county's Trading Standards - their contact address is [EMAIL="trading.standards@aberdeenshire.gov.uk"]trading.standards@aberdeenshire.gov.uk[/EMAIL]
  • Toothsmith
    Toothsmith Posts: 10,072
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    Hi all!

    After being bombarded with invites to him a secret diet drop group on Facebook (clearly a scam from the offset!!), I am truly amazed how this company are making the claims they are for what is effectively a bottle of useless liquid.

    Homeopathy has got away with it for decades! :D
    How to find a dentist.
    1. Get recommendations from friends/family/neighbours/etc.
    2. Once you have a short-list, VISIT the practices - dont just phone. Go on the pretext of getting a Practice Leaflet.
    3. Assess the helpfulness of the staff and the level of the facilities.
    4. Only book initial appointment when you find a place you are happy with.
  • daska
    daska Posts: 6,212
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    edited 14 April 2013 at 4:01PM
    Is this the HCG drops? How far it's come from the original injections of a pregnancy hormone to sublingual homeopathic drops...

    A 500 calorie low fat diet is the typical which most people would be very difficult to maintain so I guess you could say that even if there is no scientific basis for it the fact that the drops seem to make it possible for people to lose a substantial amount of weight quite easily means they work as a very effective placebo. :rotfl:

    But then there's also the version which is closer to something workable. A few days low carb/ high fat followed by a low fat/ low calorie period eating specific food in specific quantities. This is followed by reintroducing foods gradually. From a practical perspective a couple of days low carb high fat puts you in ketosis which means that eating low calorie low fat is more easily achievable and the specific food list encourages the dieter away from highly processed 'diet' foods. (The drops are supposed to help support the first two phases.)

    Still don't think I'll be spending any money on them
    Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants - Michael Pollan
    48 down, 22 to go
    Low carb, low oxalate Primal + dairy
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  • theoretica
    theoretica Posts: 12,256
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    Apparently* expensive placebos have been shown to be more effective than cheap ones so charging high sums may enhance their effectiveness!

    *see Ben Goldacre's Bad Science, I think
    But a banker, engaged at enormous expense,
    Had the whole of their cash in his care.
    Lewis Carroll
  • jeddi_2
    jeddi_2 Posts: 1 Newbie
    I thought we lived in an age of enlightenment? I thought we lived in a country where fraud, extortion and illegal trading could be brought to justice. This is not entirely the case. Watchdog disappoints me too. Only last night I saw them buy two horses from a crooked dealer, show his face on screen and wave good bye to him. What is the point.
    Entertainment I guess.

    Let's have a look at 'secretdietdrops' and it doesn't take a genius to work out that this is one huge and may I add, dangerous scam because it messes with the individuals mind, health and finances. Doctors, nutritionists and watchdog find it pretty disturbing and worrying but who I ask will put a stop to it? Must we wait first for a person to die on a 500 calorie a day diet.

    Does anyone realise what happens to a body on such a dangerously low calorie intake? cardiovascular problems, liver and kidney failure, mental health problems, anxiety, depression just to mention a few. All leading to a very dangerous situation. But then there are the placebo drops which apparently work best when really expensive.

    It is time we done something about it. I am doing my best to get rid of them but sadly by legal means which doesn't work in this enlightened country of ours. Now, do not send complaints to the trading standards in Aberdeenshire as posted on their website because they own it. It is no more than the name of the server on which they host their website. One more before I take a temporary break from this scam, it is worth noting that all their testimonials are fake, just made up. Look carefuly at the cheap website and the mail address [EMAIL="secretdietdrops@gmail.com"]secretdietdrops@gmail.com[/EMAIL]. Help me end this sad state of affairs.
    jeddi
  • I don't understand Jeddi's last paragraph. Though I share her/his despair at Scottish law, the other points are questionable. Firstly, I have no reason to doubt that the testimonials are genuine. Indeed, since they're proof that people have been daft enough to believe the company's lies, they may even be useful legal evidence in proving that Secret Diet Drops has specifically targeted the gullible and vulnerable. The address I gave for Aberdeenshire Trading Standards is an address that I have used to contact Trading Standards myself and is given on Aberdeenshire Council's website. I could put up email addresses for specific individuals within the department participating in the investigation, but I'm not sure that would be appropriate on a public forum, and emails to the generic address will reach them anyway.
  • s5hly
    s5hly Posts: 4 Newbie
    I was very disheartened to read this. Your making an awful lot of opinions for something you have not done. I can assure you i did the drops diet myself last year and found it amazing. I myself was sceptical and tried the diet with-ought the drops for a week, i felt horrible, no energy so hungry and i stopped. So then i bought the drops and did 2 bottles for 6 weeks, i lost 36lb and have never felt happier or healthier. Following the maintenance plan i kept the weight off. You say you have no proof to say it works, well i do, my own self. i had tired, so many other diets my whole life and nothing worked, or the weight went back on. Secret Diet Drops- changed my life!!
  • Toothsmith
    Toothsmith Posts: 10,072
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    'My own self' is anecdote - not proof.

    Proof is when you get two groups of a lot of people.

    One group get the thing you're testing, the other group get a dummy version.

    Neither the people themselves, or the people recording the results know who has had what (That is called double blind).

    You get all the results in, decode the people so that it becomes clear who has had which product, and then you see if the group with the product you're testing has done any better than the group who had the dummy version.

    If they have done significantly better - then that is proof.

    There is no 'proof' that ANY fad diet or magical potion diet WORKS.

    Save your money.
    How to find a dentist.
    1. Get recommendations from friends/family/neighbours/etc.
    2. Once you have a short-list, VISIT the practices - dont just phone. Go on the pretext of getting a Practice Leaflet.
    3. Assess the helpfulness of the staff and the level of the facilities.
    4. Only book initial appointment when you find a place you are happy with.
  • s5hly
    s5hly Posts: 4 Newbie
    Yes and there is no proof it doesn't!! As you have just said!
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