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How the scams work While they might not be hiding their sites well to a trained Web developer, Sienkiewicz said the sites operate in ways that easily ensnare unsuspecting Web users. Appearing like legitimate news Web sites, some that even change the masthead to match the city of the person visiting the site, the front end of the promotions appear legitimate at first glance. Once users move on to the actual product Web sites, they are enticed with trial offers and free samples. Of course, they all require users to pay for shipping and most say the offer is for a limited time. Once users advance to the stage where they are considering entering a credit card, the pressure is applied. “Time is the key factor,” Sienkiewicz said. “They want to rush you through the check out process so a lot of these sites will have a timer that is ticking down. That’s to make sure that when consumers get to the second page, they don’t read the terms and conditions, which by the way are very very small at the bottom of the page and difficult to see.” Getting himself noticed Through his detective work, Sienkiewicz has uncovered more than 30 brand names used by the scammers and an even greater number of Web sites pushing those products. However, he does not think there are that many players in the fake whitening game, but rather a handful of companies using numerous Web sites and selling multiple brands. While he said he can’t prove it, Sienkiewicz believes most of the scam whitening products are imported from China. His efforts to expose the scams have gotten him noticed by the companies behind them. One company threatened a lawsuit, but seems to have backed off. And once he started labeling products on his review site as scams, he noticed the scammers moved on to creating sites similar to his own to confuse the public who find him via search engines. “As soon as I come out with a review claiming they’re a scam, they don’t like that and they come out with fake review sites trying to outrank my site,” he said. Impact of the scams People who get tricked into signing up do receive a purported whitening product in the mail. Because he has not taken a sample to a chemist, Sienkiewicz said he has no clue what is in them or if they work at all. Still, the presence of the products themselves has an impact on the whitening market overall. “I think consumers are going to get tired of over-the-counter whitening products,” he said. “They’re not going to know who to trust.” Ida Baghoomian, Public Relations Manager for Ultradent, maker of the Opalescence take-home whitening products, said scams like these illustrate the need for patients to consult with their dentists, even before purchasing over-the-counter whitening products. Patients with sensitivity or cavities might not react well to whitening products and could cause harm, even with options available at the local drug store. “Our effort in promoting tooth whitening through the consumer channel aims at reinforcing the message of checking with a dental professional prior to beginning a whitening regimen,” she said. Ultradent’s sales might not be directly challenged by the scam sites Sienkiewicz helped uncover, but Baghoomian said the company experiences illegal online sales of its products. The company actively works to stop either dentists or patients who received the products from dentists from reselling them on sites such as eBay or Amazon. She said people buying Ultradent from anywhere other than their dentist’s office run the risk of purchasing expired or improperly stored products that might have reduced effectiveness. “They might be wasting their money anyway,” she said. After running his site for about five years, Sienkiewicz has learned a lot about the whitening business, and said he has a good sense of what works and what doesn’t. So while the scams are still pervasive online, he believes consumers are best served by avoiding purchasing whitening products through a Web site. Instead, they should talk with their dentists about what product or system will work best for them. “I truly believe the gold standard is going to the dentist and getting properly done custom trays,” Sienkiewicz said. Noah Levine is a senior editor for DPR. Contact him at nlevine@advanstar.com.
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