A mystery keto charge on your credit or debit card statement is almost always the second act of a subscription-trap scam: you (or someone using your card) clicked an online ad for a “free” or cheap trial of keto pills or gummies, paid a small shipping fee, and were silently enrolled in a recurring monthly plan. The follow-up charges typically run between $60 and $210 a month, with individual reported hits of $169, $189, $196, $198, $239.99, $250, and $260.1FTC. New Year, New Weight Loss Scams2AARP. Keto Diet Pill Scams The billing descriptor usually reads as an unfamiliar company name, which is why the charge looks like it came from nowhere.
How the Charge Got on Your Statement
These operations run from pop-up ads on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat offering a “risk-free” 30-day supply of keto diet pills or gummies. Many ads use fabricated celebrity endorsements, falsely linking the product to figures like Oprah Winfrey or Mark Cuban, or to Shark Tank. Shark Tank executive producer Clay Newbill has confirmed that no investor on the show has ever endorsed a weight-loss supplement and no such product has appeared on the program.3AARP. Shark Tank Gummies Scam Mark Cuban has said scammers routinely use his image without authorization.4Mashable. Shark Tank Keto Gummies Scam Google Search
To claim the trial, you enter card information and pay a shipping fee, often $6.95. The fine print — or terms that treat use of the website as acceptance of a contract — enrolls you in automatic monthly shipments at full price.1FTC. New Year, New Weight Loss Scams Within days or weeks, the larger charges hit. Some victims also get billed for extra products, like a “cleanse” supplement, they never ordered. One 83-year-old consumer was charged $6.95 twice for shipping, then $189.90 for an unordered cleanse, losing $203.80 in all.2AARP. Keto Diet Pill Scams If a bank blocks one charge, scammers often change the company name and try to run the same card again.
Calling the company usually goes nowhere. Reps answer with first names only, refuse to transfer to a supervisor, insist you must try the product for the full 30 days before canceling, and offer a 35 or 50 percent discount instead of a refund.2AARP. Keto Diet Pill Scams The Better Business Bureau profile for one seller, “Keto Pure,” logged 27 complaints over three years, mostly for billing — including consumers billed $299 on an order that showed $49 at checkout, and consumers billed after being told their accounts were closed. The company’s standard reply pointed to its terms and conditions.5BBB. Keto Pure Complaints
What To Do Right Now
Speed matters. The dispute window and your protections both narrow the longer the charge sits.
- Call the company once to cancel and demand a refund. Note the date, the name used by the rep, and what was said. Follow up in writing. If they stall or offer only a partial discount, stop negotiating and move to the next steps.
- Dispute the charge with your card issuer. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you can dispute an unauthorized or erroneous credit card charge by writing to your card company’s billing inquiry address within 60 days of the statement on which the charge first appeared. The issuer must acknowledge the dispute within 30 days and resolve it within 90. Federal law caps your liability for unauthorized credit card charges at $50, and many issuers add zero-liability policies on top of that.6FTC. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges7CFPB. How Do I Dispute a Charge on My Credit Card Bill8Investopedia. Fair Credit Billing Act
- Shut off future charges. You have the right to revoke a company’s permission to pull automatic payments, even if you authorized them earlier. Notify both the company and your bank in writing that you are revoking authorization, and ask the bank to place a stop-payment order on the merchant. Many consumers find the most reliable move is reporting the card lost or stolen so the number is killed outright. That blocks the common tactic of re-running the same card under a different company name.9CFPB. How Do I Stop Automatic Payments From My Bank Account1FTC. New Year, New Weight Loss Scams
- Report it. File with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, contact your state attorney general’s consumer protection office, and submit a complaint to the BBB Scam Tracker. If someone used your account without your authorization, the FTC also directs consumers to IdentityTheft.gov.10AARP. Weight Loss Scams6FTC. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
If the Charge Hit a Debit Card
Recovery is harder with a debit card than a credit card. Credit cards carry stronger federal protections for fraud, and debit card users often struggle to get money back once a transaction has processed.2AARP. Keto Diet Pill Scams Still, call the bank immediately, dispute the transaction, and ask to have the card number reissued.
If a Package Arrived You Never Ordered
Some victims find keto pills or a related supplement on their doorstep and a matching charge on their statement. Under 39 U.S.C. § 3009, unordered merchandise sent through the mail can be treated as a free gift. You have no obligation to pay for it, return it, or contact the sender.11Cornell Law Institute. 39 U.S.C. § 3009 – Mailing of Unordered Merchandise The sender is also barred from sending bills or collection notices for it.12FTC. The Law of Unordered Merchandise The FTC has said flatly that debiting a consumer’s account for an unordered subscription is a crime.13FTC. How To Stop Subscriptions You Never Ordered Keep the package as evidence, but push the dispute forward on the charge itself.
Check Whether Your Seller Is in a Settlement
Two major cases have returned money to keto-pill victims, so the name on your statement is worth looking up.
The FTC sued Legion Media LLC, KP Commerce Inc., Pinnacle Payments LLC, Sloan Health Products LLC, and individuals Harshil Topiwala, Kirtan Patel, and Manindra Garg in the Middle District of Florida, alleging deceptive “free” CBD and keto ads were used to enroll consumers in unauthorized continuity plans. Keto-branded operations named in the case included Truly Boost Keto, Truly Keto, and Truly Total Keto. Settlement orders entered in September 2024 permanently banned the defendants from using negative-option features and forced upsells, and in December 2025 the FTC announced it was returning $27.6 million to defrauded consumers.14FTC. FTC v. Legion Media LLC, et al.
A separate class action, Sihler et al. v. Global E-Trading, LLC (Case No. 8:23-CV-01450, Middle District of Florida), alleged that Global E-Trading, through its Chargebacks911 business, acted as the banking lynchpin in a scheme to overcharge consumers for Ultra Fast Keto Boost, Instant Keto, and InstaKeto.15ClassAction.org. $12.5M Keto Pills Settlement Ends Class Action Over Alleged Overcharging Scheme A related case in the Southern District of California (Sihler et al. v. The Fulfillment Lab Inc., et al., Case No. 3:20-cv-01528) named The Fulfillment Lab Inc., Beyond Global Inc., Brightree Holdings Corporation, BMOR Global LLC, and individuals Richard Nelson, David Flynn, and Rickie Joe James.16KetoPillsLawsuit.com. Class Action Email Notice A federal judge approved a $12.5 million settlement in the Global E-Trading case in December 2025. Purchasers of a three-pack were eligible for up to $149.91, and five-pack purchasers for up to $238.44, with no proof of purchase required if shipping records had the consumer’s name. Global E-Trading did not admit wrongdoing.17PIX11. Diet Pill Class Action Settlement: Who’s Eligible for the Biggest Payout
If a product name on your statement matches one in either case, check the FTC’s case page or the class action notice for current claim or refund information.
How to Spot the Next One
The FTC and FDA flag several patterns common to fraudulent weight-loss offers:
- Ads invoking a celebrity or TV show endorsement. Verify any such claim on the show’s or celebrity’s own channel before clicking. The FTC has said any ad promising permanent weight loss without lifestyle changes is fraudulent.3AARP. Shark Tank Gummies Scam
- Promises of rapid, effortless results — “lose 10 pounds in one week,” weight loss “without diet or exercise.”
- Words like “guaranteed,” “scientific breakthrough,” or “herbal alternative” to prescription drugs, especially when pushed through mass email.2AARP. Keto Diet Pill Scams
- Any “free trial” that asks for a card to cover shipping. The fine print almost always contains a subscription. Dietary supplements don’t need FDA approval before sale, so no agency has verified the product works before it ships.18FTC. Did Your Favorite Shark Tank Celebrity Really Endorse That Product
If you have already been charged, work the dispute and the card number first. The reporting and settlement checks can wait a day; the 60-day FCBA window cannot.