Riverside County Diet Guru Wins Dubius Honor

 

Riverside County Diet Guru Wins Dubius Honor

 

Heidi Diaz, (aka Kimmer, Kimberly Drake and many other aliases), the creator of the fraud fraught Kimkins Diet, is not only currently embroiled in the Kimkins Class Action Lawsuit, she has also just won another award:  The 2008 Slim Chance Award for Worst Diet Product.

WORST PRODUCT: Kimkins diet. It must have seemed an easy way to get rich quick. Founder Heidi “Kimmer” Diaz set up a website and charged members a fee to access the Kimkins diet, boasting they could lose up to 5 percent of their body weight in 10 days. “Better than gastric bypass,” there was “no faster diet,” and in fact she herself had lost 198# in 11 months. Stunning “after” photos were displayed. In June 2007 Women’s World ran it as a cover story, and that month alone PayPal records show the Kimkins site took in over $1.2 million. Then users began complaining of chest pains, hair loss, heart palpitations, irritability and menstrual irregularities. This was not surprising since Kimkins is essentially a starvation diet, down to 500 calories per day and deficient in many nutrients (shockingly, laxatives are advised to replace the missing fiber). In a lawsuit, 11 former members are uncovering a vast record of Diez’s alleged fraud. They found that the stunning “after” photos, including one of Kimmer herself, had been lifted from a Russian mail order bride site. According to a deposition reported by Los Angeles TV station KTLA, Diaz admitted using fake pictures, fake stories and fake IDs, and a judge has allowed the litigants to freeze some of her assets.

To see the complete list of 2008 winners go to  Fraud and Quackery

Ms. Diaz is famous for her use of pictures “borrowed” from Russian Bride web sites for her own “after” pictures and for those of the numerous fabricated “success stories” posted on her website.

 

For $79.95 one can join her website and receive a “lifetime” membership, which is apparently subject to whims of Ms. Diaz.  Those who have questioned the legitimacy of the pictures of the success stories, and/or have questioned the safety of the diet quickly find themselves banned from the website; their lifetime membership terminated.

 

One can also purchase a book version of Kimkins, with no access to the website, but it has been alleged that no such book even exists, and is just another way that Ms. Diaz is out to scam those who simply just want to lose weight.

 

It is sadly ironic that the obese Ms. Diaz has chosen to target other obese people with her diet scam.  Ms. Diaz “claimed” to have lost 198 lbs. in 11 months on her Kimkins Diet and kept the weight off for over 5 years, but photographs by a private investigator revealed that Ms. Diaz was not the svelte 118 lbs. beauty she claimed to be, but in fact was a morbidly obese 300+ lb. woman.

 

Woman’s World Magazine featured the Kimkins Diet in June of 2007 and helped Ms. Diaz scam the nation to the tune of approximately $2 million per month.  Woman’s World Magazine did publish a brief retraction, both in their magazine and on the web, but they have since removed the web page.  Woman’s World is not entirely blameless for their part in all this, as they too published a “Russian Bride” picture instead of one of the diet creator, who claimed her name was Kimberly Drake for the Woman’s World article.  Also, it is alleged that Woman’s World used a very LARGE pair of men’s jeans for the photo shoot involving Christin Sherburne, the Kimkins Cover Girl, for their cover, instead of an actual pair of her own pants the Ms. Sherburne brought with her.

 

Many of the members who have been locked out of Kimkins have banded together and are pursuing a class action lawsuit against Ms. Diaz and Kimkins.

 

Ms. Diaz has, however, turned the table on these class members, and is also counter suing them in return.

 

There are numerous appearances calendared for January 2009 for this case in the Riverside County Court.

 

It should be interesting to see how this all unravels for Ms. Diaz and her multi million dollar diet scam.

~~~

Kimkins Wins the Slim Chance Award « Kimkins Scam

Kimkins Dangers: Kimkins Wins the Slim Chance Award

Kimorexia: Congratulations Kevin Trudeau! And Kimkins!

KIMKINS NIGHTMARES: Congratulations Heidi Diaz AKA Kimmer on Winning the 20th Annual Slim Chance Awards!!

mariasol: Kimkins Wins the Slim Chance Award

Kimkins Review: Kimkins Wins the Slim Chance Award

MCN703, I bet your name isn’t even really Derek, is it?

Thanks to Amykf, we now know where Kimmer (aka Heidi Diaz) “borrowed” the pictures for “Derek“, her latest Kimkins Success Story featured in the Kimkins November Newsletter .   Match.com, my goodness!  Not even a Russian Groom site?

I wonder how MCN703 will feel when he finds out that Kimkins.con has been using his likeness to promote a diet scam?  How will he feel about the fact that Ms. Diaz possibly used his pictures posted on Match.com to fabricate a much heavier ‘before’ picture for her “Derek”?

I bet the folks at Match.com won’t be very happy with Ms. Diaz either, when they find out. 

MCN703 (maybe Michael or Mark or Matthew or Miles, even) or Derek, if one of you would kindly get in touch with me, I would love to find out how much you really know about Kimkins, if anything at all. 

It is interesting that Ms. Diaz didn’t quite get all the facts copied exactly, since Derek is 6’2″ tall and MCN703 is only 6’1″ tall.

I wonder how his preference for meat and potatoes fits into the Kimkins Diet though?  Has there been a recent modification posted on the website to include potatoes? 

Words of Encouragement from John Tiedt

On Friday, one very tired anti-kk blogger expressed their opinion that it was time for all of us to move on from the Kimkins cause; time to move on to other similar causes. 

However, the Kimkins saga is far from over.  As long as the Kimkins.con site remains up and active, as long as Heidi can charge people to join her site, and can continue to dispense her questionable medical and diet advice; and lie about her weight loss, or lack there of; there is still a need for us to continue our efforts.

The wheels of justice do seem to be moving slowly, and it would be nice to see results happening more quickly.  But since things are not moving so quickly at this point in time, we can take comfort in knowing the wheels of justice ARE moving and moving in the right direction.  Once the momentum gets going, it can only be a matter of time.  This has only been the preliminary phase, setting the stage for the final drama to unfold.  We have all done a lot of work to prepare for this and we should be proud of all we have done.

Once Kimkins.con is no more, and we don’t have to worry about any of the “weeds” luring people into her tangled web; once Kimkins.com displays the 404 error message and we don’t have to worry about the spamming of yahooanswers and craigslist and freecycle and other diet and non-diet message boards to entice people to ante up the $79.95 with her “too good to be true” claims, then maybe we can stop.  But even then, we must watch diligently and be alert to see that Ms. Diaz doesn’t start up another scam, similar to Kimkins or something altogether different.

If you are tired of Kimkins, then by all means, take a break.  We’ve been at this for quite a while now, so a break is certainly well deserved.  But please don’t expect all of us to give up the fight, and please don’t discourage those who are still willing to keep fighting.

Thank you, Mariasol, for you excellent blog post:  mariasol: Tired of Kimkins?

As long as Heidi is out there scamming innocent people whose only mistake was to want to believe in something that truly is too good to be true, then I’ll be here:  Searching for whatever it is that John Tiedt needs for us to find.  Exposing those weeds that need to be pulled.  Sharing the information that needs to be shared.  Ensuring that there is enough truthful infomation available so that others don’t make the mistake of falling for Heidi’s deceptive advertising.  Reminding folks to Say NO to Kimkins.  Encouraging the victims of the Kimkins Scam to join the lawsuit and to share their stories on the Kimkins Survivors blog.

Perhaps it is safe to presume that the lawsuit is paving the way for further litigation with regards to the dangerous Kimkins Diet Scam.  It’s not too far fetched to imagine that other entities are waiting for this to play out before they too move in similar directions.  So, even if there aren’t new developments on a daily basis, things are still moving forward. 

Even the attorney for the Class Action Lawsuit, John Tiedt popped into YustYucky’s blog last night to share these words of encouragement with all of us:

 THERE IS A GREAT DEAL TO BE REVEALED. THE FIGHT HAS JUST COMMENCED. WE NEED EVERYONE’S SUPPORT. I AM TAKING THE THIRD SESSION OF THE DEPOSITION OF HEIDI DIAZ ON THURSDAY. I JUST FINISHED THE DEPOSITION OF DENNIS SHARP. AFTER THIS WEEK, THERE WILL BE NEW DEVELOPMENTS TO REPORT. WE NEED EVERY ONE TO KEEP THE FAITH.

JOHN TIEDT

 

Thank you, John!

Count me in.  I’m here for the duration.

I’m looking forward to hearing how that deposition goes on Thursday, and anxiously awaiting your further reports.

Kimkins Update from Christin

Be sure to listen to Christin’s Interview on “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show With Jimmy Moore!”

An Update On The Kimkins Lawsuit With Christin Sherburne (Episode 163) | The Livin La Vida Low-Carb Show

 

In today’s episode, Jimmy talks with Christin Sherburne, former cover-girl for Heidi Diaz’s Kimkins diet scheme that hit the big time last year after landing on the cover of Woman’s World magazine. Besides appearing on the cover of that issue of the popular national women’s magazine in support of “Kimmer’s” diet plan, Christin also worked directly for Heidi as the Kimkins PR representative for a few months.

But it was in the process of trying to defend the Kimkins diet and the obvious evasiveness in answering direct questions about the plan by Diaz/Kimmer that she realized there was no scientific basis or medical support for what is now commonly understood to be an extremely low-calorie fat-free, carb-free starvation diet. Amazingly, despite all of the public knowledge about how dangerously unhealthy this diet is and that the founder blatantly lied about losing 200 pounds when in fact she did not, there are still people deeply entrenched in this scam. Christin is hoping this podcast today will open the eyes of those who feel trapped into thinking Kimkins is their only way.

Listen in for Christin’s take on the current class action lawsuit against Heidi Diaz, how she came to grips with realizing that her job as the public relations spokesperson for Kimkins was a sham, and how driven she is to now make sure everyone knows about what Kimkins really is and contrasting that with what a healthy diet looks like. Whether you have been following the Kimkins saga or not, this is sure to be an insightful and informative interview that you’re gonna want to hear.

Disclaimer: Neither Jimmy Moore or Christin Sherburne currently endorse the Kimkins diet. On the contrary, we recommend avoiding it like the plague.

LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE 163
– Christin’s page at Jimmy’s forum
– Christin’s “The Journey” blog
– Jimmy’s list of Kimkins links
– RELATED BLOG POST: “Kimkins ‘Cover Girl’ Passionately Declares Diet ‘Dangerous’ After Health Issues Emerge”
– RELATED BLOG POST: “Kimkins Diet Scam Shared On FOX’s ‘The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet’”
– RELATED PODCAST: “Interview: AmyB Speaks Out On The Kimkins Debacle (Episode 123)”
– RELATED PODCAST: “Heidi Diaz: Don’t Let The Door Hit Ya! (Episode 94)”

Jimmy Moore

 

 

 

 

 

 Jimmy Moore’s Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb™ Blog   

 

 

 

 

Thank you Jimmy and Christin for helping get the word out about the dangerous Kimkins Diet Scam.

~~~~

Folks, if you or someone you know has been a victim of the Kimkins Diet Scam, please consider joining the Kimkins Class Action Lawsuit.

Be sure to read more stories about Kimkins Survivors.

 

For more Kimkins info:

Kimkins on About.com

Kimkins on Insider Exclusive

Kimkins on ConsumerAffairs.com

 

Say NO to Kimkins!

Christin Talks About Kimkins

What Kimkins Victims Want You to Know

by Kate Downs, Jun 6, 2008

Victims of the Kimkins weight loss plan won’t satisfied with a class action lawsuit. They’re building websites, blogs and online communities to tell you exactly what they want.
Meet Heidi Diaz, aka “Kimmer”. She is the founder Kimkins, a controversial weight loss plan and pricey online community. She may also be the most notorious “success” story in the history of weight loss scams. She is, without question, one of the most passionately despised personalities in the history of the weight loss industry.
Diaz is currently the subject of a class action lawsuit brought against her in San Diego, California. Multitudes of former Kimkins devotees claim to have been seriously injured by unsound medical advice, unfair business practices, and fraud. They charge that Diaz fabricated a success story (her own), and then used that story to sell an expensive program that, for many, resulted in hair loss, fainting, and other medical complications.
In addition to legal action, many former Kimkins dieters have committed themselves to warning others through blogs, forums and websites. This is necessary, in part, to alert other Kimkins victims of their legal rights. More importantly, they feel an obligation to warn others of the hazzards of the Kimkins weight loss plan. Why? Because the catastrophic program is still in business and still turning a profit.
The Kimkins website, the heart of the Diaz money monster, hasn’t skipped a beat. As of June, 2008, the site still touts the unique advantages of joining their program. The site is still capable of processing $79.95 credit card payments for the privilege of accessing their forum and other limited diet resources. The most obvious change, one no first-time visitor would notice, is the absence of any reference to “Kimmer” or her amazing claims of diet success.
The Kimkins cash-cow continues in spite of reality. Even though its founder, Diaz, admitted in a sworn deposition that her claims and promotions were fraudulent. In November of 2007, Diaz admitted to lying about her diet success and the general efficacy of her weight loss plan. She also admitted to using photos stolen from other sites and using them for promotional materials. One of those images was published in a flattering Woman’s World Magazine cover story about the diet plan. Woman’s World Magazine has since retracted its endorsement of the plan and apologized to its readers.
Diaz, in her deposition, also admitted conspiring to hide and dispose of her assets. It is clear from email evidence that she intended to appear penniless when damages are inevitably assessed in a lawsuit she will most certainly lose. In November, a judge granted permission for attorneys representing the victims to freeze her assets.
Kimkins survivors will not be satisfied by monetary compensation. For them, the lawsuit is only the beginning. What victims of the Kimkins diet is an end to the dangerous and deceptive program. As the Kimkins business continues profiting, victims continue a grassroots assault. Their blogs, websites, and forums are countless and growing stronger in membership everyday.

 

What Kimkins Victims Want You to Know

Kimkins on Insider Exclusive

The Exclusive Stories Behind The Headlines

Headline Legal News – Kimkins Diet Scam

Steve Murphy interviews

Attorneys John Tiedt and Michael Cohen;

Dr. Americo Simonini;

and former Kimkins member, Terry Lind,

about the Kimkins Diet Scam.

Click on the Insider Logo to view the show!

There is also an abbreviated edition

of the same show on YouTube and AOL Video.

You can read the transcript of the show here:

Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Pickles: Transcript of the Insider Exclusive Segment on Kimkins

Thank you, Elle!  We greatly appreciate your hard work!

AmyB talks to Jimmy Moore about Kimkins

Be sure to listen to what AmyB has to say about her Kimkins experience:

The Livin La Vida Low-Carb Show » Interview: AmyB Speaks Out On The Kimkins Debacle (Episode 123)

Special thanks to Elle from “Grilled Cheese with Pickles,” for the full transcript of this podcast.

 Check out AmyB’s blog.

Happy Easter, Everyone!

BarbaraB…

Thank you SO much for this quote:

“No one could make a greater mistake
than he who did nothing
because he could do only a little.”
(Edmund Burke)

If we all “do only a little”, imagine the progress if you look at all those “little” efforts combined.

If we each hadn’t done our little part along the way, we wouldn’t be nearly this close to achieving our goal.

Please don’t ever think “Oh, I can’t do much, so why should I bother?” Where would we be if Jeanessa had said that? If Paula Jayne and so many others had said that?

Even if you aren’t the one who found the red dress Kimmer; each of us here still can make contributions. So what if you aren’t an anti-kk blogger; each post here has furthered the thread, hasn’t it? So you don’t consider yourself a “duck”; by being here, reading and posting, you are supporting the ducks. Each time you give someone an “atta girl” or encourage someone when they have shared something they found with the list; you are helping to ensure that such searches continue. So what if you can only pull one little “weed”; just imagine how many other “weeds” that small act has prevented from popping up elsewhere? Even if you only write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, or send an email with a few links to your local news station; stand back and look at the ripple effect you are creating. KTLA started it, FOX followed up on it, GMA joined in, and I don’t believe we’ve seen the end of it yet.

Every “little” thing done along the way has contributed to where we are today.

So, if you look at that list that John sent out, maybe you don’t have everything on it, but maybe you have one “little” piece of the puzzle. Send it to John. Don’t think someone else is going to send it. YOU send it. Did you write an email to Kimkins to complain about being banned? or to express your concerns about your hair falling out? If so, send it to John. Did you save a comment Heidi made about laxatives? Send it to John.

We can help John put this puzzle together, one “little” piece at a time. If something doesn’t “feel” or “look” right to you, speak out. Post it here. If Paula Jayne hadn’t done that 15 threads ago, what would we be reading today?

I can’t take Kimkins down by myself, and neither can you. I can only do a little; but combined with the little that you can do, and the little that each of us can do; TOGETHER we can make a difference in this fight.

Remember that even if it is only a “little”; it is still a much needed part of the big picture. Don’t discount your part in all this. Don’t be discouraged because you can “only do a little”. Every little bit helps! Every little bit is appreciated, even if no one comes out directly to offer you a pat on the back for what you’ve done; even if what you did wasn’t something you shared with the list here; even if no one may have seen you do it; we still appreciate your efforts. Thank you for being a part of the team!

Thank you to EVERYONE who has not been afraid to “only do a little”.

Happy Easter, Everyone!

It really was a Good Friday!

The judge ruled in our favor today to keep the Writ of Attachment in place.

Here is a link to the letter from John, outlining what happened today, and looking forward. 

from John 3/21

We still have plenty of work to do, as we move closer to class certification.

John still needs our help.

The following is a list of the items we need in order to continue the prosecution of our case:

1.) All Kimkins.com screenshots containing false testimonials by Kimmer;

2.) All Kimkins.com screenshots containing false testimonials by anyone other than Kimmer;

3.) All Kimkins.com screenshots wherein the use of laxatives was advised;

4.) Any and all rumors about the Kimkins diet advocated by Heidi Diaz or any of her alter egos (e.g., Jessica Alba lost weight on Kimkins);

5.) All instances wherein Heidi Diaz used an alter ego/another name to acquire assets;

6.) Any evidence implicating Delaney Deaver in engaging in fraudulent conduct or ratifying fraudulent conduct of Heidi Diaz;

7.) A copy of any letter, email, or any other document sent to Heidi Diaz/Kimkins.com complaining of an adverse event or injury as a result of the Kimkins diet.

If you have any of these, please email them to John at jtiedt@tiedtlaw.com.

Thank you very much for your help!

Best wishes to you and your families for this Easter Holiday.

Kimkins on About.com

Laura Dolson from About.com has an update on Kimkins on her blog:

 March 2008 Update on Kimkins Diet Scam

 Thank you, Laura, for helping to keep everyone updated!