When I ran the Regrowth.com newsgroup, one of the moderators' main jobs was spotting shills: people posing as ordinary hair-loss sufferers while quietly selling a product. Back then a shill was usually one person with a few fake usernames. Today it's an industry. Affiliate programs, paid "UGC" creators, review farms and AI-written testimonials all target the same audience we did: people who are worried about their hair and willing to spend money to fix it.
Here's how to tell the difference between a real experience and a sales pitch.
Red flags in forum and Reddit posts
- A brand-new account with one topic. Check the posting history. A genuine user talks about other things. A shill account often exists only to praise one product.
- Brand names in the title, especially with exact pricing. Real people say "the ketoconazole shampoo I use." Marketers say the full product name, the size and where to buy it.
- Perfect results on a short timeline. Pattern hair loss treatments take months. "Noticeable regrowth in three weeks" should make you suspicious.
- Attacks on everything else. A common pattern is a post that trashes finasteride, minoxidil or transplants, then "discovers" one natural product that fixed everything.
- Multiple accounts that back each other up. If several new accounts reply within minutes with similar wording, you're likely looking at a coordinated campaign.
Red flags in videos and social posts
- Undisclosed discount codes and affiliate links. Under FTC rules, creators are required to clearly disclose paid relationships. "#ad" buried in a pile of hashtags, or no disclosure at all, tells you something about the seller.
- Before-and-after photos with different lighting, angles or wet versus dry hair. Wet, flattened hair under harsh overhead light looks thinner. Dry, styled hair under soft light looks fuller. Same scalp, different story.
- "Doctor" claims without a name you can check. A real physician has a license you can look up and a practice you can find.
- Urgency. "Only 12 left" and countdown timers are sales tactics, not medical information.
Fake reviews are now illegal, but still common
In 2024 the Federal Trade Commission finalized a rule that bans fake reviews and testimonials, including reviews written by people who never used the product, AI-generated reviews presented as real, and buying positive reviews. That gives the FTC more power to go after the worst offenders, but enforcement can't keep up with the volume. Treat star ratings on any single site as one data point, not a verdict.
How to research a product the right way
- Read the ingredient list, not the marketing. If a product's main claim depends on an ingredient, check whether it's actually in there and at what level.
- Look for the 3-star reviews. They're usually the most honest: people who liked some things and not others.
- Search the product name plus "side effects" or "didn't work." Real products have critics. If you can't find a single complaint, the conversation may have been scrubbed.
- Ask a professional who isn't selling it. A dermatologist, a hair restoration physician or a trichologist can tell you whether a product makes sense for your type of loss.
A note on our own products
Yes, I make hair-care products, and this site sells them. That's exactly why I'm telling you this. You should apply the same skepticism to us: read our ingredient lists, look at what our physician endorsers actually said, and decide for yourself. A brand that can't survive that kind of scrutiny doesn't deserve your money.
Scott Blaine Hoffman founded Regrowth.com, one of the first hair-loss networks on the web, where moderators reviewed posts and called out product shills.