You can see the creeps come out at night, or daytime; simply search in Google for something like “Best CBD Gummies for Pain” and you will get a lot of legitamate articles on CBD gummies mixed with ne’er-do-well posts. It’s a fact that a lot of companies utilize reviews to boost their views as they offer affiliate links for companies (such as Carolina Hemp Hut).
Carolina Hemp Hut does not participate in these posts as a practice (we always want to stay transparent and simpler to understand). We are also big on helping our customers navigate safely through the world of online BS that is designed to separate us from our hard-earned income.
The Telltale Signs of a CBD Scam
Our first example is a gummy retailer who is typical of the pop and drop action. They pop up with well-placed reviews online (I will describe how to break down the web page of scammers to look for signs of sneakiness). They also will show up in your email inbox after you fill out certain forms on the web. In either case, there are some clear signs to steer clear of purchasing from them.
Here’s one link: https://www.kitsapdailynews.com/national-marketplace/mother-natures-cbd-gummies-review-scam-or-legit-critical-details/
You don’t have to visit it, but it is safe to visit; just don’t buy from them. They’ll have you in their clutches.
On this page, the scammers have prepared a review of their product, Mother Nature’s CBD Gummies.
If you read the review, it seems pretty much a legitimate product. This is their intent. The products ARE real, the deal is NOT.
The writers of these blog and article posts are smart – very smart. They know that if they provide you with a bunch of facts, the fact that they are ripping you off will be blurred.
Most of these reviews do lead to or funnel you to a specific product. Again, this is not the evil part.
This particular review offers the following text: “
Further, Mother Nature’s CBD recommends customers purchase their product only from the official website to avoid being scammed into buying fake products.
Whenever new information is made available via the official Mother Nature’s CBD Gummies website, we’ll post it here for your convenience.”
We love this as the scammer is warning you not to fall for the “other” scammers. This is a big move, but it does underscore that they are the trusted ones (oh yeah, then where’s your frickin’ phone number so I can call you and ask you questions?!).
Above, the “we’ll post it here for your convenience” link takes you to (Voila!) wholeleafonline.com.
We took the liberty of checking the WHOIS database and discovered only a small amount of info on this domain. However, this method does help you see more information on the providers.
If you’ve followed our previous revealing stories, then you are likely to notice right away that this page does not have a good smell to it. In other words, it does not pass the sniff test. If you are new to the CBD/Cannabis online world, then read on as you will get more of an education to prepare you for the pitfalls that may lie ahead.
What are CBD scammers telling you?
Before you get lost on a “too good to be true” tangent, good scammers typically will make everything irresistable even if it means stretching the truth. If you deliver enough of the truth to be plausible, this gets the confidence built for the scammer. Thus, we are going to show you the Con (as in Confidence) Man approach to selling hemp. I hope you notice also, that we provide ways to help you assure that you are getting the products you expect more than you would “just trusting your gut”. It’s not a fail proof system, but it will certainly help you avoid shenanigans.
Life of a CBD Con
I am shooting to complete honesty here since I realize that this is an article where LACK of honest was being highlighted. Frankly, I hope it presents a dichotomy in position on what’s legit and what’s not. I am also not able to dig deeply into product quality at this time since so much of quality is the buyers’ perception (taste, strength, terpenes, etc.).
When you find an article on any product or a website dedicated to that product, you probably already realize that someone has a finger in the pie of that enterprise in some way. For example, we would be completely honest with posting a product here in our catalogue of fine products that was an affiliate link (an affiliate link allows a commission for sharing the link with other viewers of content). We would want you to know that you are going someplace else thanks to visiting our store. If you did not like our store, we would hope you would tell us why, but we are not eager to block anyone’s progress in whatever way.
Along those lines any store of any ilk would be better served by being completely transparent on things such as product quality and origin and would be helpful if they were available to help the consumer understand more – so they can make a wise decision.
The online scammers will inundate you with information about how awesome (scientifically) their products are. However, if you read carefully, their woopdedoo product content is very much of “too good to be true”.
This is an unfair qualifier because we’ve had products that we thought were too good to be true even though they were really very true and marvelous for our stores.
Stating the Obvious about CBD Scams
After I opened the link the article provided, my navigation placed me on a landing page from Wholeleaf CBD Square Gummies.
Instantly I knew that the page was a “scam site”. I have a library of screen shots and images which I have catalogued of these scammers. I will walk you through some aspects that are included on the infographic here (please download a copy and print it!). This way you have a cheat sheet to give to FRIENDS and FAMILY to keep them out of harms’ way.
The Wholeleaf Gummies site was just a landing page with one main page of content and “pop up pages” with the T&C and other legal documents.
CBD Terms and Condtions
We always suggest and urge that you read the terms and conditions page of these scammer sites as they will often reveal how badly things will go for you if you subscribe to their products.
First, be sure to review the price AND the strength of the product. We see more people get overcharged than you may expect. A good rule of thumb is 300mg of any normal Hemp product should be under $45 and any product under 500mg should be under $50.
If the price is higher than this, they’re doing something that should take a second level of scrutiny.
10 Best CBD Gummies
You can see blog posts, reviews and similar web click bait terms designed to get your attention when you are surfing the web for cannabis products.
We naturally search for things that interest us and smart web site builders and marketers use the same words you may search as part of their web site structure (see how we added 10 Best CBD Gummies to the title here?). We know that these techniques are vital to any business to secure more eyes on their web sites and content.
What we do find is marketers who break the rules when it comes to products and FDA regulations. In addition, they are grossly over-charging for their products.
As seasoned retailers in the CBD/Hemp space, we’ve learned that most stores have higher costs to operate (expensive location based rent, very fancy decorations, and other amenities cause this). This requires a higher price for their products to account for the higher expenses. However, with these “scam CBS” sites, they do not have the same costs as a retail “mom and pop” CBD shop in your neighborhood. This is why their prices should be less than expected in more cases.
Shark Tank CBD Gummies
We have covered the whole “Shark Tank” CBD gummy scams in articles we’ve posted before. Again, these aren’t truly scams like some scams that just take your money. These do send you an overpriced, underwhelming product via a subscription which is difficult to cancel.
Whenever you see the famed Shark Tank personalities, it typically means someone is trying to influence you with a celebrity who likely is not even involved with the product at all. You will see this a lot.
For us at the Carolina Hemp Hut, we also truly believe that none of the Shark Tank personalities represents a reliable source for health benefits of hemp. We do pay attention to their investment ideas though!
To recap in simplest terms, if you see the Shark Tank people on an ad for gummies made with CBD, Delta 8, or any other cannabinoid, it’s going to be a crock of BS. Don’t buy it.
If you search for Shark Tank CBD, you are very likely to find a lot of discussions around the terms “Shark Tank CBD” just because it is what people remember, thus they search for it. Smart marketing folks with SEO skills will use those words to build their web pages so people will find them.
We use those words to describe our content and share with our audience more about cannabinoids. If we sell some products to people who find our work compelling, then great, we all win. It’s our customers who help us keep our prices lower since they are very loyal and return to visit us month after month.
What is so special about CBD?
CBD has become popular not because of clever marketing. Lucky for businesses like Carolina Hemp Hut, CBD (Cannabidiol) products have become popular because they work. We understand that some products will not work simply because they have too little or no CBD in them. This is often the case with sneaky operations across the country and “trial offers” or similar. However, reputable businesses will offer a Certificate of Analysis (COA) to show that the product’s cannabinoids matches what is described on the label.
When you have a dose of CBD that is sufficient for your own body’s endocannabinoid system to be stimulated, you feel the results. We often recommend to our therapeutic customers (customers looking to use natural products for their health concerns rather than recreational concerns) that they keep a log or or journal of what edibles and related hemp-derived products while starting out. This gives them the ability to see what and when and how diferent doses and product selections impact their health outcomes.
Anyone advertising Shark Tank CBD Gummies or showing Jamie Richardson is likely not to have COAs to back up their products nor will they be in a position to help their customers with guidance into hemp health.
Beware of CBD Scams by Name
Some real crappy people create websites with the name of an existing CBD business, most often a larger, more reputable business. For example, Hemplucid, a reliable and high quality producer of CBD/hemp products could have a slimy competitor create a web site named “Hemp-Lucid.com” and offer their Hemp Lucid products.
Copyright and trademark infringement issues abound with this but what’s worse for the consumer is that this bait and switch can place faulty or even dangerous products in the hands of the consumer when they intended to have quality products.
The Carolina Hemp Hut stores have even had a similar related named stores pop up in North Carolina to steal from the trusted aspects of Carolina Hemp Hut. We’ve seen Your Carolina Hemp Hut, The Hemp Hut and others.
While none of these are likely designed to harm the customer, they are designed to ride the coattails of more successful entitites. This is why you should always be sure you are shopping at the real web site for the source of CBD you need.
Carolina Hemp Hut is the Certified source for highest quality hemp and cannabis education.
