They pretend to be health magazines and consumer portals, invent expert and customer opinions: questionable health products are advertised on the Internet via dubious websites. FITBOOK did investigative research into how these websites operate and how consumers can protect themselves from them.
They are called «Gesundheit im Leben», «Forum der Gesundheit» or «krank.de»: Websites that look like professional health magazines at first glance turn out to be fraudulent fake portals that advertise dietary supplements. They are promoting weight loss pills, detox cures and other health products from a dubious online shop called «Baaboo». FITBOOK researched the tactics used to encourage consumers to buy pills, creams and shakes, why these sites are so difficult to crack down on, and how to protect yourself from fake health magazines.
Fake health magazines advertise all sorts of questionable supplements
At first glance, websites such as «krank.de» or «Forum der Gesundheit» may seem like serious health magazines. Comprehensive is written here about clinical pictures and treatment methods. But the portals also publish countless product tests: for diet shakes, weight loss pills, sexual enhancers.
They advertise with screenshots of customer reviews, the authenticity of which cannot be verified, and with quotes from alleged doctors or nutritionists, whose full names are not given. In addition, phrases such as «scientifically proven» or «studies have shown» are always used without linking a single scientific source. The authors are supposedly well-known health journalists. However, you will not find them in any other publication.
The “tested” dietary supplements promise the greatest things. «Betox Body Restart» is supposed to detoxify the lungs, liver, kidneys, skin and intestines at the same time. It consists mainly of fat. The ingredients listed include soybean oil, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, butterfat and yellow wax. Exactly the same ingredients are contained in an agent intended to help «fight parasite infestations in their early stages». Another product is presented as an anti-cardiac drug and could be «taken as an alternative to conventional medicine».
A contribution to a supposed anti-heart death drug on sick.dePhoto: Screenshot / FITBOOOK
Also interesting: Coconut oil is unhealthier than many people think
Fake reviews, shell companies, made-up experts
FITBOOK went in search of clues. We asked ourselves: What are these websites that pretend to be health magazines? Where are they from and what dubious products are they promoting?
In total, we found almost twenty websites* that all work according to the same pattern. They pretend to be health magazines or consumer portals with a health focus. Fake product tests, big promises and misleading information are used to advertise the same dietary supplements over and over again. To do this, the sites compare the advertised products with either made-up products or branded products. In the end, the no-name product always emerges as the test winner. Its purchase is expressly recommended with direct linking and advertising.
*List of researched fake portals:
sick.de
doctip.de
gesundheit-im-leben.com
npalliance.org
slim-list.de
cakehealth.com
edenext.eu
atrada.de
healthcanal.com
evas-blog.net
willingness practices.de
epigenesys.eu
atrada.de
forumdergesundheit.com
branchas.de
medical center bonn.de
lpfa-nrw.de
For weeks, FITBOOK has been trying to find out who is behind these pseudo-health portals. But the imprints of the magazines lead to mailbox addresses in the Marshall Islands, the Seychelles and Spain. In rural areas of Zimbabwe, in a co-working space in Dubai or in a hotel in Berlin. But never to someone actually responsible. Our email inquiries go unanswered. The identity of not a single person appearing on these pages in the form of an author, expert or consumer can be proven. They simply don’t exist.
The imprints of the individual portals lead to many places – just not to the real operators. Photo: Screenshot / FITBOOK
The connecting element between the «health portals»: a dubious online shop called Baaboo
But there is a pattern with the fake health magazines: the links and the advertisements on the pages all lead to the same online shop called Baaboo. The Estonia-based company sells food supplements, cleaning products, FFP-2 masks and hula hoops. There is no phone number, no email address for press inquiries. In the end, we only manage to make contact via detours. We are offered a phone interview with Baaboo’s alleged marketing manager.
At the agreed time, our author is called from Dubai. The employee whose identity cannot be confirmed afterwards will never be available again after the call. When asked about the health portals, he explains that they are affiliate partnerships. Baaboo would have no control over the extent to which individual sites advertise their products. He blocked further questions about dietary supplements.
Also interesting: More than half of the dietary supplements are overdosed
Dietary supplements «Made in Germany» – company headquarters sometimes in Malta, sometimes in Belize
The dietary supplements and health products that Baaboo sells and that the fake health portals advertise come from a company called Good Living Products. The Baaboo employee confirmed in the phone call that the company is their main partner in the field of dietary supplements. We try to find out more about the manufacturer – after all, the products are advertised as «Made in Germany». But here, too, a dead end. Although the products are said to be made in Germany, the specified company headquarters of «Good Living Products» is sometimes in Malta, sometimes in Belize.
Both addresses turn out to be mailbox addresses. The Good Living Products website is incomplete, the email address does not work. The company declined an interview requested via Baaboo. Also, on a consumer portal, we find a complaint from a customer stating that the Good Living Products product they bought was sent to them in relabeled packaging. He then found the identical product with a different label at the Chinese online retailer Alibaba at a lower price.
Until the end of our research, we can’t find out where the «Good Living Products» dietary supplements are really manufactured, whether the company even exists or is just a fake. We can only state what we know from our research: that the products sold via the online shop Baaboo are of dubious origin and that a dense network of fake health magazines advertises these products. Fake reviews are intended to lure consumers. It remains unclear who records and operates these magazines.
Why is it so difficult to crack down on these fake health magazines?
According to Martin Bolm, in-house lawyer at the Center for Combating Unfair Competition, the difficult traceability is the problem. Because the contact details in the imprints lead nowhere, the website operators also disguise their identity through anonymization services, so that it is not possible to find out who is behind the individual domains. From a legal point of view, however, you can only take action against such portals if you have an available contact person.
In terms of content, Bolm agrees with the FITBOOK research that the self-proclaimed health portals are probably vulnerable in several respects. This would raise the suspicion of surreptitious advertising and possible violations of the Medicines Advertising Act or food law. It is also not permissible to declare articles in which certain products are described as product tests if they are not tested objectively according to predetermined criteria, explains Bolm.
How can I tell if a health magazine is reputable?
Anyone who relies on dubious websites for health issues is not well advised. Who wants to take dietary supplements that, in case of doubt, harm their own health instead of improving it? It is not always immediately apparent whether a health magazine is passing on reliable information or whether it is an uncertain source. But there are always certain indications that a site is trustworthy or not, explains Dr. Britta Schautz from the consumer advice center in Berlin.
What is in the imprint?
The imprint must state who is the author or responsible for the content of the website. Because missing, incorrect and incomplete information in the imprint is considered an administrative offense, explains the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection when asked by FITBOOK. Reputable health portals name and address, provide contact details such as e-mail address or telephone number. If necessary, the legal form and authorized representatives, the responsible supervisory authority and registration number are named. A quick Google check can help to find out whether the person responsible and the address exist.
Are the experts real?
Medical or nutritional experts should always be quoted with their last name and function. After all, anyone who is a luminary in a certain field will probably also be cited in other specialist journals, have published reports or studies themselves, have their own website or be named on the website of a research institution. If this is not the case, caution is advised.
Is there evidence?
Are the product or its ingredients advertised as “proven” to be effective? Then this should be scientifically proven by corresponding studies. However, if these studies are not available, the promised effectiveness was not proven by the magazine. Consumers should always be wary of products promoting an incredible amount of good. «Food offers no protection against disease and cannot work miracles,» warns Schautz. If you are not sure whether a certain preparation is health-promoting at all, you can find out more from “Klartext Nutritional Supplements”. The website of the consumer centers is funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. It provides comprehensive information on the advantages and dangers of individual ingredients.
Does the site promote specific products?
«When test portals on shops…