SouthGain Blog

It was bound to happen . . .

One of the first signs of the success we’ve had bringing the Diana Stalder brand of skin care products to the U.S. market was the proliferation of fake products and illegal, unlabeled products trying to cash in unfairly on the valuable Diana Stalder brand name.  We’re starting to turn the corner on that issue now, as most consumers seem to be savvy enough not to fall for these fake products now that they know they’re out there.

But now the scammers have latched onto a new form of “flattery”–the fake web site.  We won’t reward any of these scam artists by actually listing links to their bogus web sites here, but they’re not hard to find.  One of the scammers is actually buying ads on Google with the provocative attention-grabbing question, “Is Diana Stalder a Scam?”  How ironic that a scammer would actually question whether the Diana Stalder brand is somehow a scam! 

If you follow the link to their web site, you will find that they don’t really offer any information or evidence to backup their sensationalized Google ad.  In fact, it seems they are careful not to tread anywhere too close to territory that would invite a lawsuit.  Instead, they try to trick the reader into thinking their web site is simply the personal, independent opinion of a regular mom of three by the name of Heather who happens to prefer another skin care product line over Diana Stalder.  The truth, of course, is that the web site (and dozens of other similar sites that unfairly denigrate other brands) is the work of the company selling the products that “Heather” has found to be so miraculous.

If you want a good laugh, and you know a little bit about HTML (the language behind web sites), go to ”Heather’s” page and view the HTML source.  You will see all kinds of interesting hidden text that’s apparently meant to increase search engine rankings.  Some of it is apparently automatically generated by a computer, leading to interesting, non-sensical gems like “Diana Stalder are typically described as the area encircling the eyes feeling viscid and inflamed” and “Diana Stalder caused by sleep deprivation and insomnia can be easily remedied by applying cold to the surrounding area.”  Huh?!

Sadly, “Heather’s” web site is far from the only scam blog that’s not really what it claims to be.  One of the more common deceptive practices is to build a site that looks like an independent organization that evaluates various products.  Of course, the authors are actually far from independent, and the “results” miraculously favor the products they are secretly pushing on another web site.

Another common tactic is to pose as a customer in various forums around the web, talking up certain products (in which the commenter has a financial interest) while talking down the competition.  Of course, the vast majority of participants in the chat rooms and other forums really are trustworthy.  But just be aware that some aren’t.  If you aren’t really sure of someone’s identity–or who’s really behind a given web site–you should probably be at least a little skeptical about what they have to say.

At SouthGain, we always try to be honest and transparent.  As tempting as it might be, you won’t find us setting up fake web sites to try to trick you into buying our products.  Call us old-fashioned, but if we have something to say, we’ll say it here on our blog.  Or we’ll post it under our own name.  We won’t try to hide behind some anonymous posting on a web forum, or trick anyone with a bogus web site that pretends to be something it’s not.

Anyway, that’s our view.  If you’d like to share your thoughts, feel free to leave a comment here on our blog!