Yet another website is misusing the identity of former National Task Force against COVID-19 special adviser Tony Leachon to promote fake health products.
Leachon has disowned the advertisement which has been circulating on Facebook (FB) since April 13.
The website pusup.shop published the scam, which when shared on FB, looks like a promotional material for a diabetes cure. Its thumbnail featured Leachon’s photo from a 2020 interview juxtaposed with a photo of a Spanish liquor and a blood glucose meter.
A breaking news crawler quoted “Dr. Antony Leachon” — which misspells the doctor’s first name — as saying this:
“Mawawala na ang diabetes para sa siempre. Gawin ito bago matulog (Diabetes will go away. Do this before sleeping).”
However, when clicking the website link, it redirects viewers to a blog endorsing a product called Penirum Pro+ with a “patient’s testimony” stating it treated their erectile dysfunction.
In an April 20 Viber message to VERA Files, Leachon said the post is just “another fake news” that uses his name to promote health products.
The internist-cardiologist is not endorsing any products or supplements. He has issued an advisory on FB informing the public of his official social media channels.
(Read related fact-check: ‘ABS-CBN’ impostor sites post FAKE story on ‘diabetes cure’)
Penirum Pro+ is not registered with the Food and Drugs Administration.
The “Association of US Urologists” that supposedly ranked Penirum Pro+ as “the number one product” also does not exist. The official American Urological Association has not mentioned anything about the product either.
The “patient testimony” format has been used in sites promoting other products for erectile dysfunction, only this circulating scam is in the Filipino language instead of English.
Netizens were promised discounts and asked to provide their personal information to avail of the product.
VERA Files Fact Check previously debunked other fake ads that misused medical professionals’ identities. (Read ‘Super Meal Mix Nuts’ ads to fight diabetes, cancer are a SCAM)
Several netizens posted the link on FB garnering 1,403 interactions according to the social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle.
Have you seen any dubious claims, photos, memes, or online posts that you want us to verify? Fill out this reader request form or send it to ‘VERA, the truth bot’ on Viber.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
