Kimkins Class Action Lawsuit

Proposed Notice of Pendency of Class Action

This is NOT an official notice. This notice is proposed to the court by plaintiffs’ counsel June 26, 2009. If you choose to duplicate this notice on any blog or website, this notice MUST be included.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Kimkins Wins the Slim Chance Award

The Worst Diet Promotions of 2008 snag 20th Annual Slim Chance Awards

HETTINGER, ND – Healthy Weight Network released its 20th annual Slim Chance Awards today, highlighting both the hidden dangers of diets and supplements that often contain unknown ingredients and sometimes potent drugs, and the merely ridiculous.

To call 2008 a typical year in the weight loss field would be too easy. This year’s awards go to an infamous huckster of diet infomercials, known for his outrageous disregard of injunctions against him; $139 body-shaping jeans impregnated with substances that supposedly reduce cellulite; a pill that’s “proven” to make your belly fat vanish; and a dangerous starvation diet launched recklessly on the Internet with false promises of safe, fast and permanent weight loss.

All in all, a typical year that synthesizes all that is deceptive and exploitative in this field. So, here they are, the 20th annual Slim Chance Awards (only “Worst Product” is shown here):

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.

For a full list, go to Quackery and Fraud

SMACK down for Kimmer

Magicsmom has a great blog post about how folk can SMACK Kimmer for SLAPPing DUCKS.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

Excuse the mess.....

Please excuse the mess while this blog undergoes some renovating.

Help will be coming from many of the anti-kk bloggers. Just bear with us for now.

In the mean time check the webring or the blog roll for some up to date info.

Woman's World Apology - FINALLY!

For all of us who have written (and some of us many, many times) to Woman's World magazine demanding a retraction of their article about Kimkins - CLICK HERE!

It's not enough though - I want to see this printed in their magazine along with an article detailing the entire scam!

But.. it is nice to see :)

What you can do!

Hey! How about a new post? Certainly been awhile!

This was posted at LCF by BamaGal - Thanks for the info! I wanted to repost it here for all of those sitting around wondering what can possibly be done while sitting online to help get rid of Kimkins and the scamming scammer behind it... well........ here ya go!

_________________

I do not want to step on anyones toes here....BUT

Time to squash everything and move on.

As we know from reading the court papers Heidi is still having people sign up. The only way to guarantee the closing of the site is through the federal channels. Even WHEN Heidi loses the class action lawsuit---she can still run the site and sign up more unsuspecting people.

How about we ALL get involved here---here are some really good ways:

Contact the Federal Trade Commission

Federal Trade Commission - Offices and Bureaus

The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel®, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies worldwide

Internet Crime Complaint Center

Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

The IC3 is co-sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C)

IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 gives the victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies at the federal, state, local and international level, IC3 provides a central referral mechanism for complaints involving Internet related crimes.

it does not take much of your time to file this report--it is very easily done in my opinion---this is the most important thing we can do right now---

Contact your states Attorney General

FindLaw: State Resources: Attorneys General

another very simple thing to do---since this is the internet---each state should be involved not just CA

National Association of Attorney General's Computer Crime Point of Contact List (all state-related cyber questions)

National Consumers League’s Fraud Center

Use this form to report suspected telemarketing or Internet fraud.

Online Fraud Report Form

all of these next ones require very little time and effort---

Epinions.com

People search here for opinions on various things. So leave yours relating to Kimkins. Become an Epinions member and publish your review.

Complaints.com

Consumers in Control Online compliant form

Complaints Board.com Submit a Complaint

Troubleshooter.com

The Internet home of consumer advocate Tom Martino Submit a compliant

Call the HelpCenter 1-866-966-HELP (4357)

ConsumerAffairs.com

To report any type of consumer fraud or scams

Complaint Form

If you have not contacted these agencies---my first question is

WHY THE SAM HILL NOT????

no offense ladies and gents---but the time spent he say she say back and forth could be better put to use

no, I am no discounting anyones feelings, nor do I wish to ruffle any feathers---I just want to see some action being done instead of just paying lip service to bringing Heidi and her minions to justice....

Don't be an arm chair quarterback--actually get into the game....

____________________________

Great post, great advice, great links. Thanks Bama!

The Kimmer - Deposed! Meet Heidi Diaz!

The image above is a screen shot from the deposition given by Heidi Diaz on November 12th, 2007. Wanted to share this here just to keep the record of the Fall of Kimkins complete!

Also, as per the writ of attachment filed in the courts, Heidi Diaz's assets are now frozen.Keep up the good work! And kudos to Christin for her local news coverage!

"Atkins Meets Anorexia"

Atkins meets Anorexia was the lead in title used today on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet.

Anyway, the show!

Here's a recap!

Images of Christin at her home, telling her story.

(She's so beautiful! We love you Christin!) She talks about the images of "Kimmer" on the homepage and her desire to lose weight. The story follows Christin's journey through weight loss to the Woman's World magazine cover and then her health issues that arose. Christin outlines the dangerous advice that Kimmer gave her, including daily laxative use and the questions she asked Kimmer about the safety of the diet in her role as PR Director and her ultimate termination from her role within Kimkins.

Video from the PI showing Kimmer's current visage are shown as well as the Russian Brides website photo theft.

On stage is Deni, (also beautiful! we love you Deni!) Christin, Jeannie and Melanie (SingingLass).

Christin compares Kimkins to anorexia and talks about her medical issues as a result of the diet. Mike brings up "SNATT" and Juliet says that Christin's symptoms sound just like the problems anorexics face.

M and J turn to Jeannie next and ask for a response. Jeannie says that Kimmer is in fact Heidi Diaz. Jeannie then says that there is a full explanation is already on the website, but it was NOT at the time the show aired. It is now, though.

Jeannie admits that Kimmer used poor marketing tactics, but the diet still works! It changes lives! She then goes after Christin and says to Christin that "You were under medical supervision!" and Christin says that she was not. They talk about laxatives and Jeannie says that they only recommend a laxative if someone has "potty problems" and Deni says "that's not what it was when I was on the plan" and Jeannie comes back with "Well, we're always open to making positive changes".

Jeannie has the audacity to tell Christin and Deni that THEY set a bad example for everyone and it was there fault as moderators for not helping others be safe. (BAD JEANNIE!)

Jeannie then says on national TV that Kimmer couldn't be there because of litigation and her deposition today and that Kimkins is currently dealing with a lawsuit. lol.

Deni then tells her story and her and Christin discuss how addictive the Kimkins plan was. Juliet says that it sounds as though they developed an eating disorder and Christin agrees.

Jeannie says that she is at Kimkins to make positive changes, to make every wrong right, as per her promise to the low carb community. She then says that they have a bariatric surgeon who is considering joining the Kimkins team. (Wuh oh.. lol)

Singing Lass is talking about her weight and blames it on steroids. Says that she lost 102 pounds and she stalled on Atkins. Says she was worried about side effects from WLS but the side effects from Kimkins are ok.. lol. Silly girlie! She doesn't look like she's lost 102 pounds........

Jeannie says that she feels like she's in the middle of a terrorist attack..... omg.

Next up.. the dietician and the doctor have a go at the Kimkins plan!

Reg. Dietician Glassman and Dr. Seigel (sp?)

Tippy accidentally sent an email that says "there will be a nutritonalist there as well, that scares me...." to the producer of the show! lol Glassman corrects her and says its "nutritionist", LOL.

The dietician rips right into Jeannie and yells at her for picking on Christin. Says that Heidi has as much right to give diet advice as she does to give legal advice. Says its completely unethical.

Dr. Seigel says the diet is ATROCIOUS. (He also discusses ketosis as a dangerous state for anyone with medical problems). He talks about the egg white challenge on the Kimkins site.

Dietician says the diet is dangerous because of lack of fiber and calcium and very low calories.

Dr. Seigel says that "No self respecting doctor would be
associated with this plan". "It's a total disaster and you could end up in the hospital".

Excellent show! Brava to Christin and Deni! And a special thank you to CJ, Mike and Juliet for bringing much needed national attention to this horrible, dangerous fraud!

Heidi Diaz Comes Clean (Well, sorta)

Monday, November 12, 2007

From the Kimkins website: (my notes are in red)

Kimkins Controversy


Dear Kimkins Members,

OK, so it's time to come clean. (a bit late for that, we all know the truth already!)

In view of recent events (can you say lawsuit?) and the feedback I've received from members, I've decided to set a few things straight. (A few things.. lol) Those of you who know me are well aware I'm a private person and prefer to remain that way. However, that doesn't seem to be in the cards.

So, let's put a few burning questions to rest:

Q: Who is Kimmer?

A: Heidi Diaz (translated - "I LIED when I said Kimmer and Heidi were 2 different people, many times!")

Q: Why the drama, denial and hiding?

A: For the past 10 years it was to avoid an invasion of my own privacy. However, for the past 3 years it was to protect the identity of my foster children. California foster regulations prohibit foster parents from making statements that would identify children as "foster", even by association. (IF you have any foster children, you broke the law by even mentioning them!) Identifying myself which could lead to my home address or identifying me in public could identify them. (PI didn't see any Foster Children while he was staking out your apartment.)

Q: Did you lose 198 pounds in 11 months?

A: No. But I did lose 100 pounds in 6 months. (cough BS cough) However, since Kimkins appeared on the Woman's World cover, I've been glued to my computer. I'm no different than any of you (YES you are. Not everyone is a pathological liar and a sociopath!) and I'm well familiar with stress eating or grabbing what's handy instead of what's Kimkins friendly. (And you're good at blaming others for doing it, too!)

Q: So you've regained the weight?

A: Yes, but I've been back on Kimkins for 2 weeks and have lost 23 pounds so far. (cough BS cough) I gain fast and I lose fast, that's how it's always been. I'll be experimenting and rotating with each option except Cycling because that will be too much temptation for me. I'm a lifelong dieter and I know what a free week (or weekend) will do to my willpower. (What willpower, sugar cookie?)

Q: What about the model photos in some of the Success Stories?

A: The majority of our earliest Success Stories were from another website and we couldn't take those with us. We wanted to show visitors the possibilities with Kimkins. So, while we built up (invented, stole, falsified) our newest batch, I created stories (I made stuff up and lied) which were a compilation of previous successes that people had shared with me over the past 10 years. We're extremely proud of all of our members (paid and unpaid) who have experienced weight loss success.
(Again, Kimmer with the half-truths. Just say "I stole some pictures from a Russian Bride website and pretended they were real success stories to try to convince people to join!")

Q: You have been photographed without hair. Did Kimkins do that?

A: Absolutely not. (But it DOES cause hair loss! Way to try to spin it!) I developed alopecia universalis 23 years ago. (Aww poor you. Not.) It is an autoimmune disease that causes total body hair loss. Our family has cluster autoimmune conditions. Mine are alopecia, hypothyroidism and eczema. Other family members also include alopecia plus type 1 diabetes type 1, multiple sclerosis, lupus, eczema and rheumatoid arthritis. Autoimmune is when your body attacks itself and destroys certain functions. Most people with an autoimmune condition develop more than one. If one person in a family develops an autoimmune condition, other family members tend to develop them. (Bla bla bla, whatever. You LIED about your wonderful hair care routine. Just say that. Enough of the pity party.)

Q: What about the people who joined Kimkins because you said you lost 198 pounds in 11 months or because of the success story re-enactments?

A: I offer my sincere apology (Too late! You banned most of them! Cow.) to anyone (which is everyone) who felt misled or joined purely on that basis. That was never our intent. (The hell it wasn't! When you post FAKE pictures and LIE that is an INTENT to MISLEAD) Kimkins will provide a refund and membership cancellation upon request to anyone who joined Kimkins prior to November 1, 2007. Please write
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support@kimkins.com
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by November 16, 2007 and provide your full name, current or former user name, PayPal transaction number and PayPal email address. (You gonna be broke now, chica)

Q: What about the people who want to continue with Kimkins?

A: We recommend a good primary care physican and counseling.
A: A lifetime membership is lifetime. You're here and that's permanent! (Unless you get banned!)
In fact, I'm going to be part of the "Watch Us Lose" models on the homepage (UGH spare me) and will update my stats each week, add updated photos and post in the Kimmer's Back on Track Challenge. I will lose my weight all over again and everyone is welcome to lose right alongside me. I had baseline medical tests done a few weeks ago and will share both my starting and final results once I reach goal which I hope to be around my birthday in May 2008.

Q: Will we ever meet "Kimmer"?

A: I'm going to do my best. (which means I'll have some family crisis and won't be there) I truly am a shy person (oh please) who prefers to stay in the background, but a Kimkins Cruise is planned for Summer 2008 and I'll be there to meet & greet everyone! We will be asking members for feedback on local meet-ups as well so everyone has a chance to meet me and network with other Kimkinites! (Hey! Thats OUR word! Thief!) Support is everything in successful long term weight loss. (How would you know... exactly?)

Q: Anything else? REAMS!

A: Kimkins works. (Duh. Anyone that doesn't eat will lose weight. Doesn't mean its safe!) I have offered my internet style of Kimkins diet advice for 10 years. (But you're not QUALIFIED or licensed to give diet advice!!) It was hugely successful (because it was based on LIES) which is why Kimkins became popular. My first 8 years were 100% voluntary and I even turned down gifts. (except the ones I scammed people out of by saying I lost my purse, etc.) My goal has always been for people to learn the very simple and very effective basics of quick weight loss. This remains our focus today. Anyone who wants a refund and cancellation, please let us know.
Everyone who wants to stick with Kimkins -- well, what are you waiting for? Let's do it! I've got, uh ... a couple of pounds to lose myself and I could use some support! (You could use some psychotherapy!)

Q: What about starting a Kimmer Challenge?

A: Excellent! Let's do it! I'm setting up the Kimmer's Back on Track Challenge thread, so come on over and say "Hi!"

Another long list of half-truths and lies by the expert of fraud, Heidi Diaz. I HOPE everyone will run away from this woman and her web as fast as they can.

Heidi Diaz! Take your bullshit and stick it!

Heidi Diaz Deposition / The Morning Show

Dun dun DUN!

Today is the day!

Heidi Diaz is supposed to appear in court and give her sworn deposition. Will she show? We'll let you know!

And.. finally! A nationally broadcast news program is covering the Kimkins scandal! The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet will air its segment on Kimkins today! Check it out and look for Christin! Tippy / Jeannie is scheduled to appear as well, it should be MOST interesting! Click here for local listings: The Morning Show

I've been thinking about this all weekend. What will Tippy say? How will she defend -

* The red dress picture?
* The fraudulent before and after pics

* Heidi's own statements that you cannot change, alter or tweak the program in any way Heidi's own advice to restrict calories to 500 a day (original boot camp plan)?
* The mysterious "new owners"
* The lawsuit
* The foster children fundraiser scam
* The founder of the plan weighing 300+ pounds
* The Acupuncturist giving medical advice not pertaining to his field
* Fitness Guru who mysteriously disappeared after saying no one should go below 1200 calories?

On and on and on.. There is no defense for any of those things. Her entire platform will be "but the diet works! People are losing weight!" Sure it does, Tippy. Anyone that doesn't eat will lose weight. Duh.

I can't wait to see this show. Tune in!