As this is a show about urban legends and false beliefs, one of the categories that we

often tackle is consumer ripoffs.

Fraudulent products intended to take advantage of the desperate or the gullible.

This week we're going to field some listener feedback that took issue with six such

exposés in past shows.

That's coming up right now on Skeptoid.

You're listening to Skeptoid.

I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.

Listener feedback, consumer ripoffs.

Today we're opening the feedback mailbag and letting dedicated ripoff customers have

their say.

So much nonsense is sold these days with convincing and compelling marketing rhetoric, and many

customers become converts absolutely convinced that their pet product is a miracle of some

kind.

Sometimes these are victims of multi-level marketing schemes who would rather persist

in their conviction rather than admit they were ripped off.

But more often they're ordinary consumers who paid money for a worthless product that

does no more or less than their expectations did for them.

Yet they all insist on attributing their perception of efficacy to the product itself.

The result marketers get rich and customers' wallets get lighter.

Jim from Plano, Texas is evidently a big fan of salt therapy.

The latest FAD miracle cure all sold by many spas.

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