Keto Extreme Scams Social Media Users Out of Thousands

Keto Extreme Scams Social Media Users Out of Thousands

We would like to alert you to the revival of an online scam that claims a certain “weight loss product” is endorsed by Prof Tim Noakes. The Noakes Foundation would appreciate your help in alerting consumers that this marketing campaign is a complete fraud and payments to Keto Extreme are stolen! Professor Tim Noakes does not endorse or promote any commercial products. He simply supports a low carb, high fat lifestyle for weight loss and wellness. 

The advertisers have unlawfully and without his permission, associated Prof. Noakes with a fake product in order to misrepresent its “qualities”. We have repeatedly reported this latest fraud to the relevant digital platforms in question. Despite many attempts to escalate the issue, we have achieved little success.  We are contacting you as part of doing all we can to prevent unsuspecting individuals falling prey to hard-to-trace scammers. While The Noakes Foundation is making our followers aware of the long-running scam via our social media platforms, many people continue to complain to us after being scammed out of thousands of Rands:

This scam enterprise initially began in 2020 under the name Ketovatru. The Noakes Foundation worked relentlessly to stop the scam and with Facebook’s help and our supporters, it was shut down after months. Regrettably the scam has recently resurfaced under the name “Keto Extreme”, a fake company.

The scammers aggressively target consumers on popular social media platforms by falsely associating Prof Noakes with their product.

His image and name has been hijacked for use in advertisements to falsely imply endorsement of the Keto Extreme “product”. In addition to his false “quotation”, the scammers have also created a fake “Professor Tim Noakes” Facebook account to comment positively on Keto Extreme’s fraudulent marketing. Versions of the advert may also link to a “blogpost”, plus feature logo(s) hijacked from health professional organisations. For example, the South African Medical Association’s. 

The scam process involves scammers attracting potential consumers with an offer that seems too good to be true: You, the consumer, are offered a “wonder product” that will allow you to ‘lose 15 or more kilograms in a matter of days’. Upon purchasing the product for a specified amount, your bank account will be debited for a much larger sum of money- sometimes upwards of R3,000! The many complaints we’ve received that you will NOT receive any Keto Extreme product.

If you spot the advert, you are encouraged to report it and the advertiser to the social media platform. You may also bring the issue to your community’s attention, kindly flagging that consumers must be vigilant of the Keto Extreme scam.

In 2020, Jayne Bullen, COO of The Noakes Foundation, was interviewed on the Consumer Talk show with Wendy Knowler hosted by Pippa Hudson regarding the fake products claiming to be endorsed by Prof Noakes. You can listen to the full insert here if you would like.

We would like to reiterate that the affiliate program offered by The Noakes Foundation does in no way endorse this product, nor the practice thereof. The Eat Better SA (EBSA) affiliate program is designed to ensure that customers have peace of mind knowing that products bearing our stamp fully support their low carbohydrate lifestyle. EBSA’s affiliate programme is also designed to position its affiliates as trusted brands that consumers can confidently rely on.

Affiliates’ proceeds are donated to EBSA, helping The Noakes Foundation give back by assisting under-resourced communities to get better by eating better.

Below is an example of the false advertisement. Please be warned that there are many others and that scammers are likely to update their “campaign” and “product names” in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your ongoing support and vigilance,

The Noakes Foundation team

P.S. You can give feedback to us and warn us of new adverts at info@thenoakesfoundation.org.