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Velform Sauna Belt scam    Advertising Standards Canada, Health Canada and the Competition Bureau must review the promotion of the Velform Sauna Belt immediately. Why have they ignored the potential dangers to consumers? You may not just be getting ripped off. You may be getting BURNED. Globemedia helps to promote this scam on ROB-Television Originally posted on October 25, 2005 It was revised on February 8, 2007 after threats of legal action by a lawyer hired by a major Canadian-based marketer that hasn't sold these products for years. They claim that they have suffered from a loss of goodwill. How is that possible you say? Let's take a little look at some of the products that this marketer has also flogged through their many avenues that include a huge presence on our television airways and Internet. The most egregious example I could find includes the sale of Kevin Trudeau's Q-Link and his book about Natural Cures. This company sold the Q-Link pendant years after Trudeau was told by the FTC in the U.S. that he was in contempt by the courts for failing to stop his promotion of deceptive products. I consider the threat of legal action by this company to be outrageous for a number of reasons. First of all, civil charges for defamation can only be made during a very short period of time, and since the original web page was posted on October 25, 2005 this case is baseless under Canadian law. The fact that this marketing company knew, or should have known about the actions taken against the company in other countries were serious, and that they obviously ignored them in order to sell the devices. It is plainly in the consumer's best interest to not spend their money on devices like this and others described below if and when consumer monitoring agencies have taken action to stop the promotion of those devices. Price in September 2005 was $79.95 U.S. dollars for just one, and then add on the tax and shipping to that. Don't bet on sweating off your fat The Velform Sauna belt scam is now in Canada. I was watching the infomercial on Report on Business television at 2:30 a.m. on September 5, 2005 and could not believe what I was watching. I was amazed that they were allowed to sell this product in this country in the first place. The infomercial reminded me of the earlier AbTronics commercials that were cited by the FTC in the U.S. and other agencies around the world as being deceptive. The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK took action for misleading advertising in May 2005 Report on Business Television is a division of Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. It is a huge media conglomerate that owns CTV, the Globe and Mail, TSN, etc. Bell Globemedia owns 21 CTV affiliates and a satellite-to-cable service, ASN. It holds affiliation agreemeents with four independently owned CTV stations, and its network operations reach 99 per cent of English-speaking Canadians. Bell Globemedia has a leading presence in specialty channels, owning interests in 14 Canadian networks." The Report on Business TV home page The product looks like a heating pad that you strap on your waist, buttocks, etc. It melts fat away in as little as 50 minutes and the effects claimed are ridiculous. Velform Sauna Belt was marketed by Canadian infomercial giant Northern Response. [This is no longer the case, but it is still marketed by a few other Canadian companies.] Click here to view the product [Unfortunately this link is now dead, but the company's web site archives show that the Velform Sauna Belt appeared on their site from September 2005 until the end of December. The product key number at the time was #590.] That is now blocked by the ShopNorthern.com web site. Uncensored Complaints from Infomercialscam.com Infomercialscams.com web site about Kevin Trudeau Infomercialscams.com Search for Velform - There are tons of complaints and some of them use strong language about the product and the lack of response to complaints. Here are some quotes from their web site: Instant weight and measurement loss! Sweat away unwanted fat, eliminate cellulite, lose weight and ease muscle pain, all while sitting in the comfort of your own home. The Velform Sauna Belt focuses the sauna heat on the most problematic body parts to help flush out and eliminate toxins. This portable sauna is great for the abdomen, waist, back and hips. Just apply the Velform Sauna Belt around the chosen body part and let the belt do all the work. It will stay firmly in place with the secure velcro attachment. After using the sauna belt, your metabolism will be enhanced and the pounds will just melt away. Made for men and women, simply wrap the Velform Sauna Belt around your body and with the press of a button you're sweating away unwanted fat! The infomercial shown on Report on Business Television was produced in Las Vegas by: Ben Kalb Productions 5045 Rogers St. Suite 7 Las Vegas, NV 89118 702.871.8787 E-mail: BenKalb@BenKalbProductions.Com They also produced the deceptive Abtronics commercials that were cited by the FTC and the Competition Bureau a few years ago. If you try to watch the Velform clip you won't be able to, but they have the links there anyway. Velform Sauna Belt or Kitchen Appliance November 15, 2006 New Use For Velform Sauna Belt from Justin Leonard's Infomercialblog.com In a review dated 12 Nov 2006, a man claims to have discovered a new use for the Velform Sauna Belt. According to the review submitted by “George,” the fly-by-night product can be used as a kitchen device. Here is what he had to say: “Well, I used for 2 weeks and don’t see any results, but one day I forget to turn it off, and let in top of my lunch box accidentally, so I noticed that my food keep really warm. So now I used in my kitchen for rising bread, and making yogurt, it’s a really cool kitchen gadget, must have it. But if you want to lose inches of your waist, don’t waste your money.” Be sure to visit Fitness Infomercial Review.com for more reviews of the Velform Sauna Belt. Competition Bureau actions against Abtronics: Canada curbs Abtronic marketers. Canada's Competition Bureau has secured a consent agreement under which Thane Direct Canada has agreed to pay a CN$75,000 administrative penalty and to stop marketing the Abtronic and Abtronic Pro or any similar device without adequate evidence that they are effective for weight loss or muscle toning without exercise. Abtronics purchasers can apply for a refund by calling Thane at (800) 978-6329. [Abtronic muscle simulators removed from market by Competition Bureau. Bureau news release, Sept 16, 2002] The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took similar actions earlier this year. The FDA has noted that such devices can cause muscles to contract but do not increase muscle size enough to affect the user's appearance. [Consumer information on electronic muscle stimulators. FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, April 10, 2002] Competition Bureau Canada actions against Abtronics: Australia Competition and Consumer Bureau actions against Abtronics: FTC actions against Abtronics: Back to DietFraud.com Support our work with your donation Terry Polevoy DietFraud.com

"Do Nothing" Policies    OUR GOVERNMENTS' "DO NOTHING" POLICIES ENCOURAGE REPEAT FLIM-FLAMS When is the government of Canada going to take action against the newspapers and the companies who market this junk on unsuspecting consumers. We demand a complete investigation why the government has failed to take action against any of these companies. The diet and weight loss scam industry is worth billions in North America, and much of it comes from Canada. In other words our country is a safe-haven for hundreds of scam artists who use the internet and advertise freely in newspapers without fear of investigation by our governement. Someone right now stands to make millions operating from the safety of Toronto, right under the noses of Health Canada and the Ontario government consumer protection branch. We appeal to the ASC, the government, both Provincial and Federal to take control of the fraud artists that are preying on the public. Right now, Canada is the laughing stock of the world when it comes to the control of health quackery. We will continue to do everything possible to educate the Canadian public about scam artists and rogue health care providers on our web sites. But, it seems clear from where I sit, that our governments just doesn't care about false advertising, health scams and the dangerous products that come into our country. They also don't care about mailorder scams that originate here, but are often part of an underground cash-filled pipeline to some island in the Lesser Antilles. The world of health fraud on the internet includes dozens of other stories, some of them are very serious and involve doctors who are try to ship quack cancer drugs out of Canada into the U.S. That's another story, one that we will cover later on.

Office of Natural Health Products    What did the government do about diet and health fraud? Late last year, they decided to form a new office, a spin-off of Health Canada. They appointed a dozen or so people to a transition team, the overwhelming majority supposedly represented the cream of the crop who work in companies that supply Canada with vitamins, herbs, and other alternative health products. These are the very people who can't prove that their products work, who can't prove that there products are safe, and yet the government appoints them to a transition team to set up standards in the natural and herbal product industry. While the company that sells this particular product featured in this article is unknown, it is a prime example of what the government has failed to do. Having an Office of Natural Health Products is like putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop. Why hasn't Health Canada or the police visited the vendors, and their associates to see what is really going on. Where is the money going from their profits? Is it being laundered overseas?

We Demand that Action be Taken Now!    Our web sites will cover the story of government failure to control the false claims made in major publications, on the internet, on the radio and televison info-mercials until something is done. Terry Polevoy, M.D. Dietfraud.com 938 King St. West Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2G 1G4 519-725-4953 fax. SEND US YOUR ADVERTISEMENTS: Please send any questionable diet ads in your local paper or magazines from this company. Include the date, the name of the publication, and we will scan them in and forward them to the proper department at the Bureau of Competition of Industry Canada. Please send them even if the ads were in non-Canadian publications. American and other foreign magazines are everywhere. If we don't know that the scams are out there, we won't be able to complain.