16 February 2009 - The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has launched two spoof websites to show the methods used by scammers to rip-off consumers.
The websites, called FatFoe and Glucobate, promote a 'fat melting pad' and a cure for diabetes, respectively. Consumers who try to order the products are redirected to a page explaining that the cures are fake and that the websites have been set up to warn about the dangers of such scams.
According to the OFT, the government department responsible for protecting UK consumers from unfair sales practices, an estimated 200,000 UK consumers waste money on 'miracle' cures for things such as baldness, obesity, impotence and old age every year. Miracle health and slimming cure scams cost the UK public an estimated £20 million a year.
The websites have been set up as part of Scams Awareness Month and with the help of Sense About Science, a charitable trust which responds to misrepresentation about science, and leading diabetes charity Diabetes UK. Both charities warn consumers that buying miracle health cures is not only a waste of money, but often also dangerous. There is no evidence that a product such as Glucobate "is safe for people with diabetes to take, let alone help them manage their condition", according to Zoe Harrison of Diabetes UK.
The OFT advises consumers to be wary of miracle health products that:
In 2008 new consumer protection laws were introduced to close loopholes that rogue traders were previously able to exploit. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations introduced a general prohibition against unfair commercial practices and ban 31 unfair sales practices outright. One of the sales practices that has been banned is "falsely claiming that a product is able to cure illnesses, dysfunction or malformations".