AURORA, Colo. — The Better Business Bureau is sounding the alarm for online shoppers about a product called Prozenith.
The BBB said it is marketed as a weight loss drug and it has received 52 negative reviews, 115 complaints and 172 scam reports. They said the average consumer lost $300.
Charlotte Schuttinga is a former educator and said she typically isn't fooled easily.
"I always think, 'How in the world could someone fall for something?' and here, I fell for something," she said of her experience with Prozenith.
This summer, she saw a video on Facebook appearing to show Oprah Winfrey interviewing a doctor about a new weight loss drug. The apparent TV segment abruptly changed to an online ad for Prozenith.
"I didn't really make that connection until later," she said.
Unfortunately, the video was a fake endorsement, but believing in the credibility of the Winfrey in the video, Schuttinga spent around $315 on six bottles.
The BBB said the use of AI-generated videos of celebrity endorsements are becoming a common way to mislead consumers.
"The other thing was that [Prozenith] had this guarantee. I thought, 'Great, a guarantee.' If I don't like it, it doesn't work, I can send it back. So that was, I thought, a pretty good deal," said Schuttinga.
When the bottles arrived, there were two ingredients listed: turmeric rhizome and turmeric extract.
"The one thing I was not fully made aware of was that it has green tea," she said.
She had to do more research after the pills gave her caffeine induced heart palpitations.
"I have not had (them) for years because (of) my cardiologist, but when I started taking this, I thought, 'Why am I feeling the way I'm feeling?'" she said.
She was hopeful to return the unopened bottles for a refund, as promised on the website. But her emails to customer service have gone unanswered and phone calls to the company have not gotten her anywhere.
Denver7 stopped by the address on the bottle — a warehouse in Aurora. The door is locked and a sign is posted that they do not accept walk-up returns.
According to the BBB, "Prozenith lists an address in Aurora, CO which belongs to a fulfillment company called ShipOffers, but BBB could not verify any active state registration for Prozenith itself. The company appears linked to multiple limited liability companies in Wyoming and Delaware operated by Lucas Busch, a citizen of Brazil."
Denver7 also contacted customer service in hopes to speak to someone in charge. We were eventually hung up on.
Schuttinga said she's going to continue to try to get her money back, and hopes others don't make the same mistake.
"I have learned a valuable lesson, much to my detriment, but that's all right. I've learned, and hopefully someone else could learn from this," she said.
Earlier this month, Denver7's Real Talk with Micah Smith dove into GLP-1 medications for weight loss. We took a 360 look at the drug in the video below.
