Kimkins Meet-Up

Remember how Kimmer - Heidi Diaz - announced Kimkins meet-ups in Vegas, more than once, and they never happened? The first time it was something about gas prices, the second time never got off the drawing board if I remember correctly.

Now, she finally got her meet-up but not the way she envisioned it, I'm sure. Not in Vegas either. Court house in Riverside, CA.

It is likely the first time Kimmer has ever met any Kimkins dieters but I doubt she has any interest in socializing or chatting with them. The girls are former Kimkins members that are there to bring Heidi to justice and to have the Kimkins website removed from the internet. I'm sure that the testimony by these girls is nothing like the praise that Heidi would have expected from a meet-up at the time Kimkins operated as a cult. But perhaps even then, the people meeting her would have had this reaction:



Picture courtesy of CarolynF on LCF.

Kimkins Trial is Underway

The trial should have started yesterday but due to a busy schedule, it was postponed until today. Heidi Diaz was not present yesterday but she is expected to show up today. Will she wear stretch pants to court?



Probably not. But perhaps red as here at the deposition almost 3 years ago:


Rumor has it that she is no smaller than in the pictures above. I think that may not be helpful to convince the judge (no jury trial) that Kimkins is a great diet that helps obese people to shed the weight and keep it off. The fake success stories and fake photos don't lend any credibility to the diet either.

The trial is attended by a number of plaintiffs and other people that have been involved in bringing Heidi to justice. We are lucky to get updates directly from court. Find out what is going on at the thread on Lowcarbfriends.

You will have to register at Lowcarbfriends to access the thread, but registration is free.

Kimkins Court Hearing

There was a hearing today for Summary Judgment for the Class Action Suit against Kimkins.

All the details are not out yet, but it was decided that Heidi has to post an "Opt-Out Notice" on Kimkins. The notice is also to be posted on one more site in order to reach as many class action members as possible.

The Opt-Out Notice will give the option for any eligible class action member to reserve the right to sue Heidi individually instead of taking part in the class action suit. I don't see it as likely that anybody would want to do this in this case, but it seems to be a requirement for any class action lawsuit that this option is provided.

So much for the lawsuit being dismissed, Heidi. I'm looking forward to seeing the Opt-Out Notice on Kimkins.con. And your explanation for it.

The "New" Slimmer Kimkins

No, I don't think Kimmer herself has slimmed down, but the website has.

While Heidi Diaz has tried to copy the design from the old site, it shows that she doesn't have the graphics knowledge that her previous web techs had. Of course, it's costly to keep a professional team on board and when there is little income from new members signing up, Heidi apparently decided to take it over herself.

New Kimkins

Old Kimkins

The previous site was build on joomla and firebird forum which, while free, require some web program ability. The new site is using SMF (Simple Machines) forum software which is free and simpler to configure. If it were me, I would have invested in the very affordable vBulletin forum as it's very easy to use. And, that's what I did on my forum: Tipping the Scales to Health.

Did you notice that she has even changed the Kimkins logo? I recall that there was someone that showed how the original was copied from one of the Russian Bride websites, so perhaps this is an attempt of avoiding this being brought up in the ongoing Class Action Lawsuit.

The new site displays a lot of old success stories. People that are not seen on the Kimkins forum any more (if they were even there in the first place). Where are these people now? Unfortunately, I believe most of them have regained their weight. It happens more often than not following a starvation diet like Kimkins. I do hope they have found a more sensible weight loss program by now and are working towards health and not continuing the yo-yo cycle.

And it doesn't matter if Heidi is now trying to rewrite history. The class action lawsuit is still going strong. Heidi told her members that it had been dismissed, but that is not true. A decision for summary judgement was delayed, not dismissed. You can see for youself: Say NO to Kimkins has posted the pdf file of the decision.

Count Down for Kimkins

Kimkins Faux Dieting

Kimkins July 2009 Newsletter has arrived. One of the articles is a recycled piece from last year (or the year before) called: Are You Faux Dieting.

I think it is fitting that Heidi Diaz writes this article. She certainly looks as if she is an expert. I would assume that she can describe all these "faux dieting" pitfalls from her own experience during the last 10 years when she seems to have failed again and again at any weight loss attempt. Assuming that she has even tried her own diet.

In her Faux Dieting article, she mentions things like "make a whole hearted 100% commitment to my weight loss plan," "When are you going to suck it up and finally do it?" and "It boggles the mind to hear the excuses we give ourselves for remaining fat and undisciplined."

While Heidi Diaz certainly can be seen as an expert in "faux dieting" it boggles my mind that she has the gall to imply that she has been successful herself. Do as I say and not as I do?

Kimkins SPAM

I am banned from Kimkins. Since September 2007. But I still receive newsletters, recipes and emails from Kimkins.con. Several times per month.

It doesn't matter how many times I unsubscribe. The emails keep on arriving.

I wonder if Heidi Diaz knows that she is in violation of the CAN-SPAM act.

From the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) website:

What the Law Requires

Here's a rundown of the law's main provisions:

• It bans false or misleading header information. Your email's "From," "To," and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.
  
  
• It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message.
  
  
• It requires that your email give recipients an opt-out method. You must provide a return email address or another Internet-based response mechanism that allows a recipient to ask you not to send future email messages to that email address, and you must honor the requests. You may create a "menu" of choices to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to end any commercial messages from the sender.
  
  Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your commercial email. When you receive an opt-out request, the law gives you 10 business days to stop sending email to the requestor's email address. You cannot help another entity send email to that address, or have another entity send email on your behalf to that address. Finally, it's illegal for you to sell or transfer the email addresses of people who choose not to receive your email, even in the form of a mailing list, unless you transfer the addresses so another entity can comply with the law.
  
  
• It requires that commercial email be identified as an advertisement and include the sender's valid physical postal address. Your message must contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation and that the recipient can opt out of receiving more commercial email from you. It also must include your valid physical postal address.

The emails from Kimkins.con fulfill these requirements, with the exception of the "opt-out."

I don't doubt that Heidi will blame "technical glitches" or duplicate databases and email services but the Law doesn't allow for such an excuse. It clearly says that you have to honor the opt-out and stop sending emails within 10 days.

The FTC also spells out the penalties:

Penalties

Each violation of the above provisions is subject to fines of up to $11,000.

As Heidi does not seem to be aware that she is in violation of this law (or does not care) I made sure that the FTC knows about her spamming. It is very easy to submit a complaint on the FTC website.

Kimkins Cyber Attorney

Since when does legal correspondence take place via email? Heidi Diaz' attorney, Peabody, apparently thinks that this is a proper form of communication.

Is this something new approved in legal circles that I am just not aware of? All my dealings with attorneys have always involved written letters by mail or fax.

To me, there seems to be a reason for this. There is no easy way to tell WHO sent an email. There is no easy way to tell if an email was received (served). How can you know it doesn't end up in a spam filter that the recipient is never checking?

Nevertheless, Peabody keeps on sending "official" Cease and Desist emails to anti-kimkins blogger. Affiliatescams has posted the email she received. Note that her email wasn't even sent directly to her. Unbelievable. But then nothing should really surprise us when it comes to this Kimkins saga, should it?

Also, read the comments to Affiliatescams' post. One blogger (Becky) received a Cease and Desist as a blog comment. Blog comment! How can that be considered Service of Process?

So what is the purpose of these Cease and Desist emails and comments? Peabody says to Affiliatescams: "demand is hereby made that you immediately cease and desist from making any further derogatory or untoward comments on your blog(s) regarding my client and her business interests".

What about the First Amendment? Consumer rights?

I am a disgruntled (banned) customer of Kimkins and have the right to express my dissatisfaction with their service (or lack thereof). My blog certainly has a lot of untoward comments regarding Heidi Diaz but that is less of my doing that hers. If Heidi had not flooded the internet with her lies and fraudulent pictures, I would not had anything to write about.

While it might be beneficial for Peabody (billing hours!) to write these emails, we expect that he will be busy with real legal actions soon. There is an unprecedented hearing set for a Motion for Summary Judgement set for August 24. Read about it on Kimkins Class Action Lawsuit blog, and mark your calendars.

Kimkins Plantiffs Depositions

The five principal plaintiffs in the Class Action Suit against Kimkins have been deposed by our lawyer John Tiedt and Heidi's lawyer Peabody.

I have no details about what was covered during the depositions, but in my opinion it would be a fairly simple process to determine fraud on the part of Heidi Diaz. For example:

Q: Did you sign up for the Kimkins Diet based on Heidi Diaz' claim of losing 198 pounds in one year and maintaining that weight loss for 5 years?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you believe that the pictures Heidi posted as her own were indeed true pictures of herself?
A: Yes.
Q: Would you have paid money to Heidi Diaz if you knew that these claims were not true?
A: No.

Case closed.

Now, I think the depositions were a little more involved than this but I can not see how Peabody could argue (on behalf of Heidi) that there was no fraud. Especially as she has admitted the fraud herself during her depositions.

Peabody can hardly claim that the five principals are not representative of the class either. Were we not all equally defrauded of our membership fee based on Heidi's false claims?

The court order for Class Certification has been posted on the Riverside Court website. Or, you can read it here: Court Order.

John Tiedt continues to excel. The court order states:

• Plaintiffs' claims are typical of the claims of the other members of the class
• All requests for judicial notice on behalf of Plaintiffs are granted
• Defendant's evidentiary objections have been overruled

Is this the beginning of the end of Kimkins.con?

Kimkins Class Action Certified

Two years after the now infamous Kimkins Woman's World article came out, there is now a certified Class Action Lawsuit against Kimkins.

The certification was actually granted back in January 2009 but it was deemed an invalid decision due to Heidi Diaz of Kimkins having filed for bankruptcy just days prior. With the bankruptcy suit being dismissed, the certification hearing was put back on the case agenda and certification was finally granted.

For the January hearing, Heidi did not bother to file any opposition to the motion for certification. She surely relied on the bankruptcy to resolve the issue for her. However, the end result was just a few months delay.

This time, she did file an opposition. Or, her lawyer did, Mr. Peabody. He tried to claim that the principals were not representative of the class and therefore each plaintiff would need to sue Heidi individually.

It's hard to understand his reasoning for this claim. The lawsuit is not about the nutritionally bankrupt Kimkins diet, but about fraud. The fraud consists of lying about her own weight loss and using pictures of other people for herself and other "success" stories.

The claim by the plaintiffs is that we all paid money to Heidi Diaz based on her fraudulent claims of her own successful weight loss using her diet. How can the principals NOT be representative of the class?

I would like to thank ALL the principals that represent me and the other plaintiffs. I know that there is work involved on their part; papers to fill in and send to our lawyer John Tiedt, phone calls and depositions. Thank you all for hanging in there during this long process!

Kimkins Lost Its Cult Status

Remember how we just a year back used to call Kimkins a cult? That was at a time where staunch supporters still visited blogs to defend Kimmer. When they were talking about the anti-kimkins haters and Kimkins.con being a "safe" place. When the members hung onto every word that came out of Kimmer's keyboard. When the forum was full of activity and people expected to lose a pound a day. When cutting calories still was the only way to weight loss.

No more. Kimkins is now just another diet forum. There is nothing different going on there than on any other FREE forum. People join challenges. Fall off the plan. Come back and start over. Just as on any other diet site.

There are a few long timers there, but it's questionable if they are Kimmer supporters. Some lend their name to advertising, no doubt with the expectation of making some money off it. Others stay there for reasons that I can just guess at:

• Staying with friends in their challenge groups
• The diet works for them, at least for now
• Blaming Kimkins dieters that developed health problems on their own poor judgement; they should have known better
• Feeling sorry for Kimmer. We all know how it feels to be overweight, to fail on a diet.
• Having sympathy for Kimmer because the anti-kk attack her.
• Not feeling "safe" going to another diet site as following the Kimkins diet is largely frowned upon by the lowcarb community

I just hope they all come out unharmed at the end.

Kimmer, Heidi Diaz, must have felt on top of the world a year and a half ago, when Kimkins was at its biggest. Money rolling in, more than she had ever seen before. People worshipping her and seeing her as their savior.

I wonder how she feels today? Class action suit underway. Bankruptcy court perhaps not ending up the way she wanted.

Heidi Diaz in Bankruptcy Court

There was a hearing held yesterday. While no details about the legal side of things have been made public, we did hear that she has not lost any weight.

How come I am not surprised?

She is still selling the Kimkins Diet as a "magic pill" that will help people lose a lot of weight quickly. How come it doesn't work for Heidi herself? Doesn't she "want it bad enough"? Is she a "sissy?"

She is leading a "boot camp" challenge on Kimkins but apparently only the others are supposed to follow the rules, and not Heidi herself. How can she expect that anybody can stick to that diet? She obviously can not.

I hope that she had to explain in court why she is still spending thousands of dollars in ads every month. I can not see that those ads attract many new members. At least there is no indication on Kimkins.con that they do. Is she just trying to waste the money so that it will not be available to the lawyers and plaintiffs in the Class Action Suit?

Busy Court Month for Kimkins

The Kimkins Class action suit is moving along with a snail's pace, as legal cases generally do. After the first filing more than a year ago, we have finally reached the point of having a hearing for the motion for Class Certification. This is scheduled for 01/14/2009.

Kimkins is no longer represented by a lawyer. Heidi Diaz will represent herself, unless she finds a new lawyer the next couple of days.

So will she show up? She doesn't have a good track record for court appearances in the past.

What happens if she doesn't show up? Unless she has filed some type of excuse I would assume that there will be a default judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, i.e. class action certification will be granted. I may be wrong.

The next scheduled court hearings are on 01/27 and 01/28. These are a number of similar hearings all dealing with determining jurisdiction for the defendants in Heidi's counter suit (SLAPP suit). As none of them is a resident of California it is not that obvious that they can be sued in Riverside Court.

What happens if the plaintiff, Heidi, doesn't show up at the hearing for HER counter suit? I would assume that it is dropped. Again, I could be wrong.

The third item in court is a hearing on 01/29 in Small Claims Court. The City of Corona is suing her for failing to pay a business license fee. They are not asking for much money at all, and it wouldn't surprise me if Heidi has already paid it. But then, it didn't make sense not to pay it in the first place. I would expect her not to show up for this hearing and just get a default judgment against her. Leaving the City of Corona having to try to collect the money owned.

Kimkins makes the Local News

Corona woman's diet program given low marks

07:40 PM PST on Tuesday, December 30, 2008

By DOUGLAS QUAN
The Press-Enterprise

A Corona woman's Internet-based weight-loss program has been named the worst diet product of 2008 by a healthy-eating Web site.

In announcing winners of its 20th annual Slim Chance Awards, the Healthy Weight Network -- an online forum for health care professionals, researchers and consumers -- said the Kimkins low-fat, low-carb diet amounts to a "starvation diet" that deprives members of many nutrients.

"This weight obsession is causing so many problems," said network founder Francie Berg, a licensed nutritionist and adjunct professor at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine.

Corona resident Heidi Diaz, founder of the Kimkins program, which charges members a fee to access the diet, could not be reached Tuesday by phone or e-mail.

A pending class-action lawsuit filed against Diaz claims that Diaz misled consumers with made-up success stories and pilfered images from a Russian dating Web site to depict as successful Kimkins dieters.

Some Kimkins members have said that they suffered hair loss, heart palpitations, weakness, nausea, muscle fatigue, forgetfulness and abnormal menstrual cycles.

Court records show that Diaz dropped her lawyer this month and is representing herself.

In an online message to Kimkins members posted a year ago, Diaz acknowledged that she had not lost 198 pounds in 11 months, as she had claimed on her site, but 100 pounds in six months. She also wrote that photos accompanying success stories were taken from another site.

"We wanted to show visitors the possibilities with Kimkins," she said.

Woman's World magazine featured the Kimkins diet program on its cover in June 2007 with the headline "Better than gastric bypass!" The magazine later apologized to readers for "having shared with you a story we can't stand behind."

As of Tuesday, the Kimkins Web site was still running, telling visitors that "many Kimkins members drop 5 percent or more of their total body weight in the first 10 days."

Members pay $79.90 to join the program.

A disclaimer tells visitors to contact their doctor before starting any diet.

Berg said people should focus less on losing weight and concentrate more on eating well, staying active and relieving stress.

Berg's Web site named as its worst gimmick of 2008 a brand of jeans that claims to release a cellulite-fighting medication when the jeans rub against the skin.

"Some of this is just ridiculous," Berg said.

Reach Douglas Quan at 951-368-9479 or dquan@PE.com

Motion for Class Certification

The motion for Class Certification for the Lawsuit against Kimkins.con was filed last week. It is an impressive document that details many of the lies told by Heidi Diaz in her efforts to attract customers to her website.

The motion has an excellent summary of why a Class Action Lawsuit is justified. The entire document can be read on the Riverside Court website (look up RIC483005 or search on Diaz, Heidi).

An excerpt from the motion (edited to shorten):

The Unraveling of America's Worst Internet Diet Scam.
Almost all of the material representations of the Kimkins.con website and advertisements were in fact false. The success stories were pure fiction and photographs were stolen from other Internet sites. The Kimkins diet was not ever proven safe or effective.

"Kimmer", aka Heidi Diaz, never lost 198 pounds in 11 months. "Kimmer" was purely a fictional character created to defraud the public. The perpetrator of this scam is Heidi Diaz, who habitually lied about the Kimkins diet and her alleged weight loss on the Internet for years from her home in Corona, California. She regularly used false names on the Internet, lied about her weight loss, created countless false success stories, falsely claimed celebrities such as Jessica Alba and Lindsay Lohan used her diet, lied about the safety and efficacy of the Kimkins diet, falsely impersonated consumers in order to induce sales, used unlawful labels and Metatags to misdirect Internet traffic and fraudulently tried to conceal her assets to avoid repaying customers. Heidi Diaz was caught red-handed but still continues to engage in false and misleading advertising on the Internet while making a substantial profit.

1. Kimmer is not Kim Drake, the thin diet expert: Kimmer is Heidi Diaz, a morbidlv obese Internet swindler from Corona, California.
The beautiful woman in the red dress featured on the Kimkins Internet site named Kim Drake aka "Kimmer," does not exist! Ms. Diaz also admitted that she had posed as Kimmer in a "public apology" that was posted on Kimkins.con after she was successfully exposed by an investigative report on the KTLA news. The Kimkins "poster girl" is actually a model named Lesya whose image was lifted by Heidi Diaz from a Russian bride Internet site. Heidi Diaz used her own picture to depict the "before Kimkins diet" image of Kimmer, and unlawfully misappropriated the photograph of Lesya as the "after Kimkins diet" image of Kimmer. Heidi Diaz has been and remains a morbidly obese woman.

Heidi Diaz created false identities to sell or promote the Kimkins Diet. She admitted under oath that she had used such names as Kimmer, Jennifer Danser, Brad Curtis, Kimberly Stewart, Kimberly Drake, Vanessa Sharp, Dennis Sharp and numerous other monikers.

2. Use of False Pictures of Kimmer.
Under oath and by way of public apology, Heidi Diaz has established that she has used false pictures to depict the weight loss success story of Kimmer. Under oath she stated that the picture of the Kimmer was not her and was actually "a model."'M s. Diaz' decision to use a false picture to advertise Klmkins was even questioned by her technical support staff. Her technical consultant, Aliyar Firat, wanted to use a real picture of Heidi Diaz but Ms. Diaz refused and insisted on using the picture of the model for Kimmer's after diet photographs.

3. Heidi Diaz Lied About Her Alleged Weight Loss.
Under oath, and by way of public apology, Heidi Diaz admitted that she lied about the alleged weight loss success of Kimmer on Internet and print advertisements. She admitted that her statement that Kimmer lost an amazing 198 pounds in 11 months was in fact a statement that she prepared but was false. Ms. Diaz also admitted that the woman identified as Vanessa does not actually exist and her story was a fictional creation by Ms. Diaz.

With respect to Kimkins' homepage, Ms. Diaz admits that her testimony on said homepage was derived from the interview wherein she claims to have lost a purported 198 pounds in 11 months was false. Variations of the homepage of Kimkins.con were accessible to the public throughout the class period.

To promote Kimkins, Heidi Diaz made phenomenal misrepresentations on the Internet program known as the "Livin La Vida Low Carb" show hosted by Jimmy Moore on July 19, 2007. Heidi Diaz also stated in the interview that she had kept the weight off for a total of 5 to 5 1/2 years. At the time of the interview, Heidi Diaz weighed over 300 pounds. She was photographed several times shortly after the interview.

4. Material Misrepresentations Contained in the Woman's World
Magazine Article "Make Heidi Diaz a Millionaire."
In June of 2007, the story of Kimmer and the Kimkins diet reached millions of Americans. Heidi Diaz admitted that she supplied her own "before diet" photograph for the article but used a photograph of another model for her "after diet" photograph. When asked where she obtained the picture of the model, she stated: "from the Intemet. I don't remember the site. Just again, I wanted to be anonymous." Ms. Diaz does not dispute the fact that she also used the false name "Kim Drake" and another false picture in the article.

Her statements in the article were a phenomenal act of fraud by Heidi Diaz. In the article she falsely stated she had lost 200 pounds in 11 months. She also falsely represented that she soared up to 318 pounds after a serious injury. She falsely claimed she went from a dress size 26 to a size 6. As a result of such blatant false advertising, sales shot up immediately. In June of 2007, there were 15,330 paid memberships.

5. The Use of Fortv-One (41) False Success Stories with Misapproprated Photographs.
Numerous Kimkins' success stories used on the websites and on advertisements were FALSE. The photographs featured in each of the success stories were lifted from Russian Bride websites. Ms. Diaz admitted that each and every person featured did not use the Kimkins diet and did not lose the weight as advertised.

She admitted to fabricating success stories and using false photographs in connection with the advertisements. She also created fraudulent success stories on the Kimkins Newsletter which was accessible to the general public and designed to promote Kimkins.con subscriptions.


6. False Celebrity Endorsements.
Heidi Diaz admitted that she had represented to the public that celebrity Jessica Alba, a famous actress, used the Kimkins diet. She testified that she did not know if Jessica Alba used the diet but repeated the "rumor" on the internet. She admitted in retrospect, she thought it was deceptive to repeat the rumor that Jessica Alba used the Kimkins diet.

Heidi Diaz also falsely claimed and advertised that Lindsay Lohan was a user of the Kimkins diet. In fact, she misappropriated a picture of Lindsay Lohan wearing a T-shirt. The Kimkins logo is superimposed on Ms. Lohan's t-shirt. Ms. Diaz admitted that she has never had any contact with Lindsay Lohan. She also testified that she never believed the photograph of Lindsay Lohan with the doctored image displaying Kimkins across Ms. Lohan's chest was real.

7. Unlawful Use of Labels and Metatam to Misdirect Internet Traffic.
Many of the Kimkins.com advertisements have labels or tags that are used as a basis to direct traffic to the Kimkins.com site. Heidi Diaz was an expert on how to misdirect traffic on the Internet. For example, Heidi Diaz took a popular Internet topic such as the "Geico Caveman" which generated a lot of Internet activity at the time. Heidi Diaz placed the labels: "Caveman, Geico, Kimkins" together so that when "Geico" and "Caveman" would be searched, the Kimkins advertisement would appear. Heidi Diaz admitted that she prepared the graphic and text without the permission of the Geico Insurance Company. Heidi Diaz admitted that labels were also used as tags and that if a search were conducted with respect to the terms "Geico" or "Caveman," the subject advertisement would show up in a ranking!'
Another example of label/tag misdirection occurred on the Kimkins Blog. Ms. Diaz used the following labels: "Celebrity Diet Secrets, Christie Brinkley, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kimkins, and low carb."

8. No Lifetime membership as Promised by Heidi Diaz.
Members of Kimkims.con were promised a one-time payment for a lifetime membership. However, if anyone complained of becoming ill on the diet, which was a common occurrence, said member would be immediately terminated. In fact, if Heidi Diaz or any of her minions decided they did not like you, you would also be terminated. Heidi Diaz testified that troublemakers would be blocked from full access to the website. She claimed to have no criteria for terminations. She stated that the term "troublemaker" would be defined by each administrator!

9. Advertised Lies and Misrepresentations.
Although Heidi Diaz is the sole owner of Kimkins and responsible for all of the content on its website, she has made the miraculous claim that certain representations appeared on her website without her knowledge.

Another classic misrepresentation repeated throughout the Kimkins advertisements was that the Kimkins diet was a "fast and permanent" way to lose weight.

Heidi Diaz admits that no medical doctor has ever approved the safety or efficacy of the Kimkins diet."

Another amazing misrepresentation repeatedly stated that the Kimkins diet was thermogenic and that no exercise was needed to lose weight. Many other irresponsible statements were made by Heidi Diaz and it is anticipated that she may even try to claim that she was not responsible for everything stated on her own website. However, she did admit undeer oath that no one had access to her website other than her technical company, Clexus New Media. Ms. Diaz admitted under oath that in her best estimate, she only visited her homepage two times in the year 2007, despite being the sole owner of the website.

The Court already has on file numerous declarations and affidavits signed by purchasers of Kimkins.con memberships, who stated under oath that they relied on the representations of Defendant's weight loss claims when they decided to subscribe to Kimkins.con. The subject declarations and affidavits illustrate the consumers' reliance on the fraudulent representations of Heidi Diaz. Heidi Diaz admits she lied and the sheer volume of lies proves her intent to deceive her customers.

Move On

Some people find us anti-kk bloggers "obsessed" and suggest that we "move on". The reasoning seems to be that fraud has now been admitted, the Class Action Suit is underway, and many people have left Kimkins to gather at other places. Why would we continue to pursue this one woman that started it all?

The answer is simple. Kimkins.con is still operational. Heidi Diaz is still running google ads to snatch new, unsuspecting members.

Some also think that we are doing this for attention. And, they are right. I do this for attention. Not attention for me as a person, but to spread awareness of the Kimkins fraud to prevent other people to lose their money like I did. Remember that when the Woman's World article came out in June 2007, there was no negative information to be found about Kimkins on the internet.
A Kimkins search at that time gave a lot of hits to affiliate blogs, and if ending up on Ask Kimmer on Lowcarbfriends, there was just praise for the diet there as well. Today, Kimkins Survivors often come up as the 2nd hit, directly following the Kimkins.con website. Hopefully, seeing a site dedicated to "survivors" will give pause before blindly signing up for Kimkins. Or, going down the list to read all the other anti-kk blogs.

Some also criticize the anti-kk bloggers based on that many of us (a) lost weight, (b) didn't do the diet, or (c) never were Kimkins members in the first place.

With very few exceptions, the ones that lost weight on Kimkins didn't do it without consequences. Some suffer health problems. Many discovered that they had developed an eating disorder. Most regained weight.

I am in the group that didn't do the diet, so my only loss was the money I paid for the "lifetime" membership. And the loss of trust. Knowing that people like Heidi Diaz so easily can create an online persona that has very little in common with who she really is. And me falling for it, paying her money that helped establish a website based on fraud. You could call me a "disgruntled customer" and I want to prevent others, not yet Kimkins customers, to become "disgruntled" also.

The last group that never were Kimkins members largely comprises dieters that are concerned about their fellow dieters' health. That were appalled at the diet "advice" Heidi Diaz gave out. They became aware of the fraud, and now want to stop Kimkins.con.

When it comes to "moving on", many, many have done so. The vast majority no doubt within weeks of signing up at Kimkins.con following the WW article. The anti-kk bloggers and the people working behind the scenes constitute just a small number as compared to the reportedly 40,000 that paid money to Heidi Diaz. Do not the people that walked away also deserve restitution? To get their money back when they realized that the diet was not anything they could ever do?

Some also tell the anti-kk bloggers to "get a life" as if we spend all our time obsessing about Heidi Diaz and Kimkins.con. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just check out the FWK thread to see how many other subjects that are discussed there. Or visit one of the other boards where we hang out and it will become obvious that this Kimkins thing is just occupying a small part of our lives. And it will keep on doing so until Kimkins.con is shut down. I will not "move on" just yet.

Kimkins Still Banning Members

Kimkins is subject to a Class Action Lawsuit for banning members without cause and without giving them a refund. While there are many other complaints about the Kimkins Diet, they are not as easily proven as the simple fact that you paid for a lifetime membership and did not receive what you paid for.

The latest banned member was asked to provide "before" and "after" photos for herself to be used in a Kimkins success story. Timing was imperative as Kimmer is gearing up for the weight loss boom that always take place after the holidays. The member did not promptly respond and found herself banned.

It is clear that Kimmer has no concern about banning lifetime members without cause. After all, they are of no use to her as the one time fee has been paid and they don't bring in new revenue for Heidi Diaz. That the member has formed friendships inside the Kimpound and is following the restrictive posting rules there is of no importance to her.

Only new members bring in money.

It's ironical that one of the selling points Heidi is using in her google ads and newsletters is the lifetime membership. "$79. Not another penny ever." It seems that her definition of "lifetime" is something else than for the rest of us. I think an honest ad should say "$79 to get access to a poorly defined diet plan. Receive advice from the diet's creator that never lost weight on it herself and that is not able to stick to her own diet. Join a dying community on a board where you have to watch what you say. Do not venture out on other, public, boards. Be prepared to lose access when the founder decides you are no longer of use to her, or if you annoy her. Being electronic media, the membership fee is non-refundable".

I doubt she would get any new members with such an ad. Hopefully she is not getting new members anyway. I hope they have the knowledge to google Kimkins before they shell out the money. The second google hit "Kimkins Survivors" should tell them something.

Kimkins Sued - Again

This time by the City of Corona. For not applying and paying for a business license. The fee, including penalties, is a mere $150. Heidi Diaz can afford to run google ads for hundreds, or perhaps thousands of dollars, but not pay $150 to her city? Heidi Diaz that bought a house for cash? That bought two brand new cars for cash? That earned millions from defrauding people over the internet?

Sure, not applying for a business license in the first place might have been an oversight on Heidi's part. After all, she is not selling anything in Corona, but just operating an internet business out of her Corona house.

But surely the attempts by the city to collect the money could not have been ignored due to an "oversight". Heidi probably thinks that the city is not entitled to any money from her. Or, she might just be trying to avoid the home inspection that may be required when you operate a business in your house.

Calling Kimkins Diet Members

Please join the Class Action Lawsuit. You don't need to have been banned from Kimkins. It is enough to have paid for a membership before November 12, 2007.

Why should you join the lawsuit? It's not to help the anti-kimkins bloggers, the posters on LCF's "Fascination with Kimmer" thread. It is to help to shut kimkins.con down!

Many, many people signed up for Kimkins based on fraudulent information (Kimmer's fake pictures and her fake weight loss claims) presented in Women's World in June 2007. The vast majority of these have left kimkins.com.

Many couldn't stick to the diet and just saw the membership money as wasted on yet another fad diet attempt. Others left when the controversy started and tried to forget about it all, embarrassed that they bought in to the lies.

Many of the members just walked away and had no interest in joining the lawsuit. Let others deal with it. Hope that kimkins.con gets shut down without them doing anything.

But, please, think about other potential victims.

Read Kimkins Survivors to see what happened to trusting people following Heidi Diaz' diet advice. People were HURT by the diet. Physically and mentally.

Would you really want, 5 years from now, your daughter/granddaughter/niece/friend finding kimkin.con on the internet? Develop an eating disorder? Starve herself thin? Suffer health complications that may follow her for life?

If you haven't already joined the Class Action Lawsuit, please reconsider your decision for not doing so. There is strength in numbers.

You are eligible if:
You paid for a membership to Kimkins before Nov 12, 2007, and you either
i) have not received a refund (or refused it in case one was sent to you) OR
ii) are still a Kimkins member

Information on how to join is available on Kimkins Lawsuit.

Or, watch the video

You can also contact John Tiedt, the Class Action lawyer, directly:

www.tiedtlaw.com

jtiedt@tiedtlaw.com

951-549-9400