Primo Garcinia Diet Pills - Scam Alert!

"Grad Student Reveals How She Lost 16 KG In Just 6 Weeks With These 2 Simple Tricks!"

Recognise these images? You might have seen them on Facebook or Instagram recently, on a weight loss ad claiming: "Grad Student Reveals How She Lost 16 KG In Just 6 Weeks With These 2 Simple Tricks!"

http://lifestyleasia.com-article.co/student-from-national-university-of-singapore-cuts-16kg-on-university-budget/

The compelling before-&-after pictures and catchy title might have piqued your interest, because all of us want to lose those holiday pounds we piled on, right? So you click on this ad, which brings you to an online magazine article on Lifestyleasia, where Cathy Lim tells you about how Primo Garcinia helped her lose 16kg in six weeks.

Sounds amazing and convincing really, except that: 

1. The pictures are of me and I am definitely not Cathy Lim nor am I a grad student nor did I lose 16kg in 6 weeks

2. Those pictures are originally from my 2015 blog post - My Weight Loss Story: How I Lost 8kg In 2 Months talking about my weight loss achieved with TCM Slimming Treatments at Slim Couture

3. I have never heard of Primo Garcinia let alone tried this miracle weight-loss product, ever

These ads have been circulating in various forms with different subjects on both Facebook and Instagram, under strange account names like "Beatles Parodies" and "Silly Surprises" and "Cover It All Blog".

I've been receiving so many emails, messages and comments (thank you so much to all my friends, readers and followers who were concerned and contacted me!) regarding my photos being misused for false advertising online that I feel that I need to set the record straight and put something online publicly to warn consumers not to fall for Primo Garcinia's false selling and advertising - It's a scam!

Fake Mirror Website Used

I was first alerted to the weight-loss images of myself and my husband being mis-used on a fake mirror website of Lifestyleasia.com (an online lifestyle portal in Singapore, sounds legit) - If you look carefully at the URL though, it is actually Lifestyleasia.com-article.co instead of Lifestyleasia.com, VERY misleading indeed.

Fake Identities & Stolen Pictures

In the first version of this fake ad by Primo Garcinia, I was named Mira. Nice, very very indie name.

In the second version of this fake article on Lifestyleasia-article.co, I have been renamed to Cathy Lim  - I guess they did a little more research before they did up this second article.

There's even a realistic interview about how Fann Wong was "my" inspiration to try Primo Garcinia, and the article ends with Cathy/myself "working with the official suppliers of Primo Garcinia to provide free 1 month supplies for readers".

Once again, I repeat, the Primo Garcinia website is a scam!

Clicking on one of the links from the article then brings you through a series of redirects before you end up on a convincing-looking website selling Primo Garcinia, a miracle weight-loss product claiming to be voted #1 Fat Burning Product In Singapore.

Except that it isn't quite as legit as it looks.

There are even testimonials with weight-loss pictures of Caucasian women, who stay in Tampines and Bukit Batok. LOL like seriously?

Beware The Free Trial!

Entering your details brings you to this page where you get "1 Free Bottle Confirmed", and you're then asked to fill in your credit card details.

A quick Google search turned up multiple names for "Primo Garcinia" and multiple websites that all looked very very similar and dubious, as well as websites calling out these "free" trials for what they are - scams. 

Once you provide your credit card details, you will be sent one month's supply for free, but if you do not cancel within 14 days of your order, you will be enrolled in an "auto-shipment program" which sends you a 1 month supply every 30 days for $133.76 + $8.04 every month, unless cancelled!

They are SO good at this. Freaking fine print on the website tells you all these, but would a consumer who's been beguiled by those persuasive weight-loss pictures and promises of a free trial even read the tiny text or think twice before providing their credit card details?

I Tried To Contact Primo Garcinia

Primo Garcinia's level of dodginess is just incredible.

Firstly, my Facebook friend Dexter tried doing a domain name look up for me.
This is what we got from the search:

Domain Name: COM-ARTICLE.CO
Domain ID: D172444262-CO
Sponsoring Registrar: NAMECHEAP, INC.
Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 1068
Registrar URL (registration services):  http://www.namecheap.com
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registrant ID: F4CI334RTITIYTEP
Registrant Name: WhoisGuard Protected
Registrant Organization: WhoisGuard, Inc.
Registrant Address1: P.O. Box 0823-03411
Registrant City: Panama
Registrant State/Province: Panama
Registrant Postal Code: 0
Registrant Country: Panama
Registrant Country Code: PA
Registrant Phone Number: +507.8365503
Registrant Facsimile Number: +51.17057182
Registrant Email: email@whoisguard.com

A Google on WhoisGuard brought up that WhoisGuard is a privacy protection service that prevents people from seeing your name, address, phone number and email when they do a Whois search on your domain. It puts its address information to the public instead of yours to protect you from potential spam and even identity theft.

WTF, apparently WhoisGuard also protects spammers and identity thieves also lah! The company behind Primo Garcinia got their domain name protected with WhoisGuard, very clever of them.

I called the hotline listed on the website next.

Phone support for Singapore was listed on the website, so I called the number provided: 800-852-3931 and I got put through to a "customer service officer".

I told her that my photos had been misused on an advertisement for Primo Garcinia, and she told me that "we do not sell any products in our company" and that I might have gotten the number wrong (which wasn't the case because I tapped directly on the number from my mobile Safari). She then said that her company sold "Home Care Packages" (?????) wtf?

Giving her the benefit of the doubt, I then asked for an email in which I could contact her company as this particular number was wrongly listed on a website selling weight-loss products, and I would like to alert her company to it, right? She told me that "she was unable to assist me as I was not a customer". I hung up shortly after because this phone call was obviously going nowhere.

WTF?

There is just some high-level dodgy shit going on there seriously.

So one last point to note on Primo Garcinia and its high-level dodginess is another tiny fine print on its website:

The last paragraph is just full of win. 

"We are not responsible for any reviews, reports, emails, advertisements or blogs that may have led you to this page. If you feel any of these 3rd party reviews, advertisements, blogs or reports may be inaccurate, please contact us immediately. We do not condone or endorse any inaccurate information, statistics and/or claims made by 3rd parties in regards to our product."

Win liao lor so my photos anyhow use on your fake advertisement is none of your business or responsibility right.  I have emailed Primo Garcinia's email address but I doubt I will get a response.

I have also contacted Lifestyleasia.com (the real website) and their response is below:

Do Not Fall For This Scam!

I am sincerely worried about unsuspecting consumers believing these ads on Primo Garcinia and then getting scammed into providing their credit card details because many friends have sent me screenshots of their Facebook friends / Instagram friends sharing this link and discussing about it.

Read these articles as well if you're not convinced.

An article on Stuff.co.nz: Warning of diet pill scam as a review of Garcinia Lean XTreme on Highya.com which I assume is another name for the same product/scam.

??? Confused ???

Q: Are those real weight-loss images, then?

Yes, they are my real weight-loss images, but put in false context! The only slimming treatment that I've endorsed is Slim Couture's TCM Treatments and those images are from my blog post sharing my experience at Slim Couture. They are not photoshopped images lol but NO THE WEIGHT LOSS IS NOT FROM PRIMO GARCINIA!!!

Q: But I see Primo Garcinia in supplement stores?!

Well, I did some research on Primo Garcinia and it seems to be a (somewhat) legit supplement that is available in local supplement stores, but you SHOULD NOT purchase it from dodgy websites that use stolen images and con you into providing your credit card details for an "auto-shipment" program!!!

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The bottomline is, do not believe anything on the internet that seems too good to be true, and always be savvy when providing your credit card details online! There are other similar websites/scams online and many of them cleverly use consumer psychology to tap into your psyche and coerce you into these scams and gimmicks.

If you can, please share this article on your Facebook page or WhatsApp groups to warn your friends not to fall for it as well - I have no idea how I can get my images removed from the fake ad so the only way I can promote awareness of this scam is through my blog post. It would be great if you could also report these ads as spam whenever they show up on your Facebook or Instagram feed! If any one knows how I can report the false advertising or get anything done about it at all, please contact me via email. 

THANK YOU!

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Wedding Talk: 3 more weeks to the big day!

HIIII! *waves* Posting my ootd from Monday (the peplum shirt in previous entry!) I really think I look super OL, haha. Maybe I can consider a corporate career. Banker perhaps?

Anyways, just went for my Slim Couture session today and I'm so happy to report that I've lost 2kg currently 2.5kg since coming back from Spain! Which was in mid-November, just less than a few weeks ago.

My app tells me it's another 28 days or exactly four weeks away from wedding day! (As of today, it is 22 days!)

Damn, I can't believe how fast time is passing. The last time I looked at the calendar my wedding was like one year away and I was telling myself I have lots of time to lose weight. Lol! But now there's only four weeks or just slightly less than a month left!!

To be honest, when I came back from Spain, I was feeling quite panicky cos I ate and ate and ate SOOOOO much in Spain But it's near impossible to diet when on holiday, everyone knows that!

Thank god I only put on like 1kg when I was in Spain. Can you believe it haha almost 3 weeks of over-eating (bread and carbs every meal and late dinners at 11pm on many occasions before going straight to bed and waking up early for breakfast again).

I was quite surprised that I only put on 1kg!

But after almost three weeks back in SG and back on Slim Couture treatments, I managed to successfully drop 2.5kg already! Ideally, I want to lose at least 5kg in total so that's another 3kg to go in four weeks. My measurements have also been going down consistently and I'm crossing my fingers that on 1st Jan I will be a skinny bitch haha!

But I'm quite happy cos quite a few people have commented that I've lost a bit of weight the past few days!!

My voice teacher who hasn't seen me since I left for Spain, one of the Slim Couture staff who also hasn't seen me since then, and also some friends told me that I look slimmer! Even my model Chanel said during last photoshoot (after not seeing me for more than a month) that I lost weight ehehe.

Secretly hoping that next three weeks I can carry on working hard and drop a few more kg please!

My pair of denim shorts which has been feeling uncomfortable tight for many months feel slightly loose now heh and I think my thighs are definitely smaller! Today the boss of the chicken place I've been going for healthy lunch recently also said my legs thinner leh haha I super cheap thrill!

So the best part of all is that I definitely haven't been starving myself to lose weight... Can you believe I eat half a chicken myself for lunch everyday??! It's super filling and satisfying! But cos it's Slim Couture diet-approved, no problem.

And I'm so addicted to Caveman Food at Novena Square 2 (where I've been having lunch w YZ almost daily) cos their chicken is super tasty and healthy!

Ok, not the best picture but this will do.

One half chicken (which is freaking a lot) and steamed broccoli and carrots! It's damn shiok and keeps me satisfied. I tried to eat fish soup yesterday but FAIL. Eat already not full at all and I ended up wanting to snack. Confirm cannot lose weight like that so I give up. I rather eat my satisfying chicken and veggies meal!!

Oh ya, have to remove the skin cos Slim Couture diet does not approve fatty chicken skin. But lucky this chicken is so tasty!

Then if I'm feeling peckish in the late afternoon, I can snack on cherry tomatoes and blueberries!

My favourite brand of cherry tomatoes is Genting Lane (you can find it in Cold Storage or Jason's Marketplace), the round cherry tomatoes. Trust me I've tried many brands and this one is the tastiest! Juicy and sweet! They taste really good with blueberries!!

Healthy healthy. And then for dinner, I stick to fruits OR veggies, but usually fruits cos I feel that the fruits help me to s**t better. I love dragonfruit (the red flesh version is preferable! Super effective for bowel movements) and kiwi for dinner!

So with this healthy but satisfying diet and my regular Slim Couture sessions, I lost almost 2kg 2.5kg already in just a few weeks. Three more weeks to go, cross my fingers best is one week one kilo lah! Not greedy right? Anyway, let me emphasize again it's not any special magic or that I have super good metabolism! In fact, my weight loss is super duper slow probably cos I lost about 10kg 7 years ago and since then I feel that it's very hard for me to lose beyond a certain weight. Especially now that I'm getting older and older and my body is slowing down and really feeling the effects of aging.

It's all about keeping to a healthy, clean diet (no carbs) and most importantly, Slim Couture's TCM treatment!

The 刮痧 (gua sha/scraping) helps to reduce cellulite and also improved my silhouette especially in the stubborn fatty areas like my hips and thighs!

And then the 拔罐 (ba guan/cupping) helps to improve metabolism and detoxify so that your internal body functions work better and improves your overall health and digestive system. The ba guan also stimulates fat loss on stubborn areas!

I'm so happy I don't have to starve myself and can even feast on chicken everyday (Fish is recommended too but 我吃不饱..)

Half a chicken sounds like a lot but don't forget I'm totally cutting out carbs! No rice no bread no noodles. It's quite a torture at first but now I'm used to it. Though I keep craving for junk food and other sinful things la but I'm telling myself to hold it for another 28 days then I can go kee siao and eat whatever I want.

I'm excited cos I want to do justice to my beautiful gowns!! This is a sneak peek of my evening gown (back view) made-to-measure by the awesome Tilly at Blessed Brides! Haven't gone for my final fitting yet and I cannot wait to see the completed piece!!

I know some people think purple is a very old-fashioned color but I super love purple! Now thinking what color shoes to go along with this gown.

On a side-tangent, wanted to let you all know that the new arrivals are up on TheVelvetDolls website for the week! Including this top, the pretty mesh skirt and the peplum cocktail dress!

Go shop on www.thevelvetdolls.sg!

This photo was taken in June or July I think! My face and arms look quite bloated somehow. I think now abit thinner than this le haha.

加油努力减肥啦!

I'm super thankful for Slim Couture! I don't know how I can look good in time for my big day without them! Even a friend of YZ and ours (Kitty, who's gonna be one of our wedding emcees) freaking lost 12kg because of Slim Couture. I need to have that kind of determination also! I just want to lose erm.. Minimum another 3kg, maximum (and ideally) 5kg! Then perfect liao. 我不贪心.

So my target weight is 50kg.

Can you believe that I've never weighed less than 50 plus kg ever since I was in.. Sec 1??

Me in secondary four with one of my best friends, Tams, insatiablemunchies lol! Don't kill me!

I managed to dig out my weight records from my old record book.

Sec 1: 50kg 158cm

Sec 2: 56kg 160cm

Sec 3: 60kg 161cm

Sec 4: 62kg 161cm

WTFFFFFF I put on 12 kg in puberty over four years!!! That is insane. And also super fat omg. And then I put on even more weight in my poly years! :(

003, which is 11 years ago. I was 17 years old and fat as a pink beached whale.

So chio I cannot even.

I remember going for clothes shopping for CNY. And I was SO BLOODY HAPPY when I could fit into a pair of size 30 jeans even though it was super muffin top and tight. And the sizing probably ran big. Straight away buy just because I can fit in it.

There was once I walked into Levi's cos last time Levi's damn hip and everyone wanted Levi's jeans? Tried on a few pairs of jeans but realised I couldn't even squeeze into the largest size That feeling...

On a plus side I had really big boobies. Like I was wearing 38C during the fattest period of my life.

And now my goal is go back to my pre-puberty weight. Before I became an overweight hippo and was fat for the best parts of my life. The last time I saw this number on the weighing scale was a whole 14 years ago!

...... My head is already so small when my body is so big I really look........... 

Ok last one just for laughs. Taken when I was... 19 I think?

I dunno if you realise but a lot of bigger-sized ladies prefer to keep their hair long. Why? Cos of insecurities about our size and we feel that longer hair somehow hides our face and body a little bit to make us look less big-sized.

But in hindsight, that hair is really 真的很恶心我不懂要怎么形容才好. Oh ya, we also like to wear black cos slimming effect. Hahaha.

Well apart from the losing weight stuff, I've been meeting up with my wedding planner Rubina from Inside The Knot so often the past two weeks she's like my new best friend. Rubina has been coordinating all the troublesome stuff and planning for the big day which is a huge load off my shoulders! All I can say is that wedding planning is really a huge chore and I am glad I don't have to do most of it.

好!!! I will keep y'all updated on my weekly progress okay! Wish me all the best!

xoxo

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Slim Couture: On Losing Weight

Weight loss is an issue that I've been battling all my life, so much that the word "dieting" is as familiar to me as the word.. "food". Some people are born skinny and some people are not, and I'm one of those that's been struggling with weight loss battles since childhood.

Even though my war with the fats is still ongoing today, I am really thankful that I came across Slim Couture and have decided to make it part of my life, because I have never sincerely believed in a weight loss treatment as much as I have, in Divine Slim! It is not just healthy and holistic, it is a treatment that truly works effectively and I have seen it do wonders not just on myself, but on people around me, like YZ or even Jessica (aka Shiberty)!

You can read more about my experiences with Slim Couture and their treatment Divine Slim in the following blog posts:

Weight Loss: TCM Slimming with Slim Couture

Weight Loss: Slim Couture Update + Before and After

Slim Couture: YZ's Weight Loss + Before and After

It was my great honour to be a part of Slim Couture's first ever event, a Meet-and-Greet session with readers! Of course, I got YZ to come along as well so he could be another real life testimonial. YZ lost like 7kg in just 6 weeks of going through Slim Couture's TCM slimming sessions!

The turnout for the event was great! I'm so glad I had a chance to meet some readers and talk to them/encourage them. It also made me feel heartened that I'm not the only one struggling with these issues and being able to meet these ladies to share my experience and give them hope! I know how daunting weight loss can be, and how impossible it seems. 

Some photos from the event!

Here's the special buffet spread at the event, and guess what, these foods are all "Slim Couture approved"! Lol. 

Fruits like dragonfruit, kiwi, strawberries and papaya..

Tofu, vegetables..

And yummy fish and chicken!

Honestly, it may be hard to follow to Slim Couture's diet at first, but once you're once to it, it's actually not that tough! Plus you don't have to starve yourself, which is what I always thought I had to do to lose weight. Not so with Slim Couture. You're supposed to eat your meals regularly and snack too, on healthy snacks like cherry tomatoes and blueberries!

In the process of sharing with readers about Slim Couture's TCM treatments and how they work!

With dear Jess, who lost a HUGE amount of weight. I think Jess lost almost 10kg to date? I'm so proud of her and happy that Slim Couture helped her achieve such amazing results!

And these are the lovely ladies behind Slim Couture, and they are really passionate to help every single client lose weight healthily and effectively. Thank you for having me at the event!

I don't think I've ever posted such an ugly picture of me on my blog HAHA but this photo on the left was taken on the exact same day that I went to Slim Couture for my very first session! I still remember the photo being taken at a Benefit event (which is why I was holding a toy gun) and it was my dear Tricia aka VainGloriousYou who took this shot -.-

And of course, the photo on the right is my outfit photo from last month I think? Panelled Mesh Top (gonna be restocked soon!) and Elodie Skorts from TheVelvetDolls!

You might be surprised to know that the weight difference between these two photos is barely a few kg, but silhouette and measurements-wise, I think there is a huge difference! One of the best things about Slim Couture's treatment is that it helps to target cellulite as well as problem areas like love handles and tummy, which means a vastly improved silhouette and figure. Even though my weight hasn't gone down by much, I've received quite a fair bit of comments and compliments from friends and acquaintances about how I look!

Taken on the day of Slim Couture's event! Off-shoulder top from Lilypirates, Sora Mermaid Skirt from TheVelvetDolls, nude stroppy shoes from Steve Madden.

Ideally, I'm hoping to lose another 4-5kg in time for 1st January and I really hope that with Slim Couture's help, I can achieve my target weight and figure! Superficial as it seems, being that few kg slimmer really does make me feel better about myself. Apart from being able to wear clothes confidently, I feel so much more at ease with my body and myself. Of course, the benefits of losing weight with Divine Slim treatments are way more than just superficial! I really do feel tons healthier and happier.

Once I'm back from Spain in three weeks time, it'll be the last six weeks counting down to the wedding day! Those last twelve sessions are gonna be crucial for me to lose the extra couple of pounds I'm expecting to gain from travelling hahaha and really look my best on my big day. Can I please be the skinniest ever on that day? HAHA. Can't wait!!!

If you've also been fighting a war with weight loss like I am, please press on and don't give up! It's not easy, but trust me on this, you can do it! :) Stay positive alright! Most importantly of all, be happy and healthy because that's the best thing you can do for your body! And remember that at the end of the day, those numbers on the scale do not determine our entire self-worth and value. Your body's health and well-being is way more than just numbers, so go about losing weight healthily!


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SLIM COUTURE

Official website: www.slim-couture.com

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SlimCouturePteLtd

Instagram: www.instagram.com/SlimCoutureSG

18 Cross Street, #02-06

China Square Central

Singapore 048423

Tel: (+65) 6536 8586

190 Clemenceau Ave 2,

Singapore Shopping Centre, #05-29

Singapore 239924

Tel: (+65) 6336 8665

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Will update again very soon, but follow me on Dayre and Instagram cos I'm gonna be updating way more frequently on my mobile social platforms while I'm travelling! :) I promise lots of Spanish updates from the other side of the world!

xoxo

Look for me on my other social media platforms here:

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