Reporting scam vendors — how to file complaints with FDA, FTC, IC3

FDA_TrackerJim said:

The pattern that distinguishes a bad batch from an exit is behaviour rather than product.

Agreeing with FDA_TrackerJim, and the qualification matters more than the agreement. The useful checklist is about verifiability rather than presentation. Independent test results commissioned by buyers rather than by the seller, consistency across multiple batches over time rather than one flattering report, a physical address and a company registration that resolve, batch and lot numbers on the actual labelling, and a shipping practice that matches what the material needs. Everything a good-looking website provides is cheap to fake; none of the items above are.

FDA_TrackerJim said:

The pattern that distinguishes a bad batch from an exit is behaviour rather than product.

I disagree that testing history is decisive. It tells you what a supplier did when they were being watched. Continuity of behaviour under stress — a late shipment, a failed test, a complaint — is more predictive than any run of good results.

Happy to go further on any of that.

This one has a reasonably settled answer, so here it is. Prices dramatically below market are the strongest single signal, and the reason is arithmetic rather than suspicion. Synthesis, testing, and cold-chain shipping have floors. A price well under the floor means something was skipped, and the two things that get skipped are testing and content.

Dr.GutHealth said:

The useful checklist is about verifiability rather than presentation.

Same pattern here, and in the same order. I had assumed I was the exception until I read this.