YouTube: ‘Dana Perino CBD’ Scam Videos Promising Dementia Treatment Don’t Break the Rules

On May 30, 2024, Flamengo Online’s YouTube channel posted a (archived) video titled, “Dana Perino Bloom CBD Gummies Really Work? ((BIG ALERT)) Dana Perino CBD – Dana Perino CBD Gummies.” The same station re-aired the clip on June 13 (archived) and June 19 (archived).

In the video, the unidentified woman claimed that Fox News host Dana Perino had a product containing CBD gummies. The woman also claimed that Perino’s so-called gummy product cures ‘dementia’ and pointed viewers to an “official” link to buy the products in the video comments and posted comments.

“So, today I’m here to talk to you about Dana Perino CBD gummies,” said the woman in the video. “Stay tuned. I even left their website below this video, so if you want to buy it, you can go directly there. But guys, what’s great about these gummies is that they help you cure ‘dementia’. Later in the videos, he made other misleading claims about the product’s alleged ability to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

As we previously reported, Perino has nothing to do with CBD gummies. In addition, we did not find reliable evidence linking CBD gummies to the treatment of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. The British Alzheimer’s Society website declared, “There are no research findings that prove that cannabis, or products such as cannabis oil (CBD oil), can stop, delay, reverse or prevent the diseases that cause dementia ‘.

We have contacted the Flamengo Online YouTube channel via WhatsApp to inquire about its scam video promotion but have not received a response as of this writing. We will update this story if more information comes to light.

YouTube’s response to Snopes

In response to our inquiry about the videos, a YouTube spokesperson told Snopes in an email on June 28, “YouTube has clear policies that prevent plagiarism and other forms of manipulation and we use them strictly. strict. After review, videos shared by Snopes do not violate our policies.”

The spokesperson also linked us to a page that addresses YouTube’s “spam, deceptive practices, and fraudulent policies.”

However, that policy page detailed three videos posted on Flamengo Online’s YouTube channel. The page reads, “YouTube does not allow spam, scams or other deceptive practices that take advantage of the YouTube community. We also do not allow content where the primary goal is to trick others into leaving YouTube. elsewhere. If you find content that violates this policy, report it.”

Snopes reported videos of “Dana Perino CBD gummies” on YouTube, as their policy page suggested. To quote directly from YouTube’s policy, the “main purpose” of the Flamengo Online scammers’ videos was to “trick others into leaving YouTube for another site” after listening to an anonymous woman re Perino recommended CBD gummies that treat dementia.

We emailed YouTube again after getting a response from their spokesperson but we didn’t hear back after five days.

Most of this Scam Operation

Our previous research into this particular scam found a large number of YouTubers posting fraudulent videos in the form of affiliate marketing.

The scam involved Flamengo Online and at least other popular YouTube channels. These stations usually built their user base by posting music videos or sports games. After channel owners have grown their subscribers to tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of users, another channel manager starts posting fraudulent videos about pharmaceutical products. The videos showed external links to the product’s price pages, found in the video descriptions and in the published comments. These products did not have common names, nor would Americans be able to find the products in local pharmacies.

Most of the hacking videos have shown signs of generating fake numbers for views and likes. In addition, the positive comments on the videos seemed to be fake. For example, one video of the Flamengo Online channel showed a description with a partial sentence, which read, “Thank you for all the good information. I will be.” A completely different account also posted a new comment (not a reply) to complete another user’s statement, writing, “trying CBD gummies soon.” In other words, one person appeared to be logging in and out of multiple accounts while copying and pasting pre-written words, all in order to create the right impression under the video. as they have done with many other videos.

The channel’s moderators uploaded videos of one anonymous woman who misled viewers about “Dana Perino CBD gummies” as a treatment for ‘dementia’. The videos on these channels also showed other men and women advocating alternative medicine. Many scam video products promised amazing results on many medical issues. The “About” property for each channel usually indicated the owner’s location as Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, Peru or another Central or South American country.

Other prominent YouTube channels posting at least tens or hundreds of fake videos either now or in the past included Astromuss Music, Lyrics de Músicas, HD Hits, MAURICIO VIDEOSHD and SOM DOS STATUS.

Channel Owner Says Scammers Paid Him Contract Fee

In April 2024, we contacted several popular YouTube channels in the scam operation to ask why they were holding the videos. In one of our questions to the popular station Alda Recalde, we asked in a direct message to X why the owner has recently deleted or created its library of videos fraud. The owner of the agency replied, “The contract is over.”

In other words, our owner has indicated to us that he has accepted payment in an agreement to allow other users to advertise their videos to the channel’s largest subscriber base – the first subscriber base to the channel for of their interest in music videos, not fraud. . The news meant that the people in the fake videos may not have channels themselves.

Snopes presented evidence of the scam network on YouTube in April. Our evidence included a full page with information about multiple channels, as well as a lengthy email containing extensive information about the theft. In fact, we have compiled a large amount of information to help YouTube determine the authenticity of the scam activity. However, at the time, a YouTube spokesperson told us in response, “The channels provided by Snopes do not violate our policies, so they will remain on our platform.”

Since the beginning of July, the channels mentioned above and many of their fraudulent videos remained available to YouTube users. Sometimes videos show up in Google search results for people who may be looking for helpful treatments for medical issues.