Why Online Health Scams Keep Trapping Us—and How to Protect Yourself
Maybe a friend told you she lost 10 pounds with a new herbal product and no extra effort, or you saw something about it while perusing your social media feed. The website looks legit, there’s even a scientific study mentioned, and the product has a money-back guarantee. You order some, because why not? What do you have to lose?
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With health scams? More than you may imagine. When it comes to magical herbal remedies, cure-all supplements, and other miracle treatments marketed online, “losing money is probably the biggest harm,” says Deborah Cohen, D.C.N., R.D.N., an associate professor in the department of clinical and preventive nutrition sciences at Rutgers School of Health Professions. “But some of these products can be harmful because they could have prescription drugs in them.”
Others have been found to contain contaminants like salmonella, heavy metals such as lead, or active pharmaceutical ingredients—including antidepressants and blood pressure and anti-seizure meds—that aren’t disclosed. This is scary, and a combination of factors are working against us as consumers to let this happen.
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Why it’s hard to identify a scam
If a product is on the market, it must be safe, right? Actually, supplements aren’t regulated like prescription drugs are. “It’s almost like the Wild West. These companies can claim a lot of things that we don’t know are true,” says Kimberly Gudzune, M.D., M.P.H., an associate professor of medicine and director of the Healthful Eating, Activity & Weight program at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
“The FTC is responsible for cracking down on companies for exaggerated statements, but it’s not a scientific body examining the health claims. So products may remain in the marketplace for a long time.” And though the Federal Trade Commission’s goal is to protect consumers from unfair marketplace practices such as deceptive advertising, it’s not possible for it to police every item being sold.
In many cases, there’s little oversight of quality control in manufacturing. “You really don’t know what you’re getting or how much, if any, of the active ingredient,” says C. Michael White, Pharm.D., a distinguished professor and chair of pharmacy practice at the University of Connecticut. “The burden is on the FDA to prove safety, but it has neither the funding nor the personnel to investigate every product.” And manufacturers aren’t required to inform the FDA of new products, White explains.
The internet feeds a ‘continuum of deception’
Of course, the first thing most of us do with any health concern is to search online, because it’s so much quicker than scheduling an appointment with the doctor. But as you can probably guess, the Internet has fueled a boom in fake remedies. “The number of online health scams has increased 20% to 50% in the last few years, though the impact of social media is difficult to quantify,” says Bernie Garrett, Ph.D., R.N., a professor at the University of British Columbia School of Nursing in Vancouver and author of The New Alchemists: The Rise of Deceptive Healthcare. “It’s become a global marketplace. There’s a whole continuum of deception out there, driven by the sophisticated use of advertising and manipulation techniques through social media platforms such as TikTok and Facebook.” And if you click on a single ad, the algorithm will send you plenty more.
Celebrities—unwittingly or not—make scams look legit
“The reality is that influencers can make money off their referrals or product promotions and placements. They may claim they’re just marketing affiliates and that they’re not responsible for the quality of the product or if it’s even sent,” says Tim Mackey, Ph.D., a professor in the global health program at UC San Diego and CEO of S-3 Research. “For example, early in the pandemic, before there were enough testing kits available, we observed influencers promoting COVID-19 testing products. They might have rationalized that they were trying to help or that they weren’t aware that these products were not approved or couldn’t be imported into the U.S. We saw a lot of nutritional boosters and fake testing kits being sold online.”
Celebrities often tout weight-loss remedies, skincare solutions, and anti-aging therapies without knowing what they’re selling. “These people have great power and influence, and they’re stating things they’re not well qualified to talk about,” says Garrett. “They’re actors, not doctors.” And some physicians also have learned that endorsements are lucrative—even those for products that go beyond their areas of expertise, such as when heart health supplements are recommended by a dermatologist.
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