Selling flimflam

It seems like Kevin Trudeau has a book for sale called Natural Cures 'They' Don’t Want You to Know About. It seems like it's popular. And it seems like a whole lot of snake oil and flimflam.

According to this article on MSNBC.com, the New York State Consumer Protection Board called the book a "fraud", and one disgruntled buyer had this to say:

"The book is just gobbledygook. There's nothing in it. He doesn't say what the cures are," [Gerald] Bates said. Instead, Bates said, on page after page the book urges readers to head to Trudeau's Web site, NaturalCures.com. Consumers must pay $10 a month to use the site. And for those calling the toll free number to purchase the book, operators work hard to tack on a Web site subscription. "Something should be done to pull that ad off TV."

Ouch. Sure sounds like a bait-and-switch to me. Get the mark -- er, customer -- to spend $40 on a book that supposedly contains cures but that actually directs them somewhere else for $10 a month where the cures actually (presumably) are. It's shameless, but it's an old scam, updated for the Internet age.

I am a firm believer in the First Amendment, and people like Trudeau have the right to publish whatever drivel they want. But, buyers beware. Don't believe everything you see, hear, or read, especially if it sounds too good to be true.