What Happened?
Enagic Corporation, known for promoting Kangen Water through a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme, has faced significant backlash for its questionable business practices. Reports such as “Kangen Water: The Scam That Pays” have detailed how the company manipulates consumers with exaggerated health claims, while profiting from a network of distributors. All investigative articles from Medium and other various sources have brought to light Enagic’s aggressive tactics to silence critics, including attempts to suppress damaging news and censor negative coverage. Despite these efforts, the company’s shady past—ranging from deceptive marketing strategies to exploiting vulnerable consumers—continues to surface, fueling public skepticism and demands for transparency.
The company behind Kangen Water, has faced mounting criticism for its MLM structure and the extravagant health claims associated with its products. Reports have surfaced suggesting a pattern of deceptive marketing tactics, with many questioning the validity of Kangen Water’s purported health benefits. In recent years, whistleblowers and investigative reports have highlighted the company’s attempts to silence critics and suppress damaging news. These efforts include legal threats and aggressive PR campaigns aimed at controlling negative narratives.
Analyzing the Fake Copyright Notice(s)
Our team collects and analyses fraudulent copyright takedown requests, legal complaints, and other efforts to remove critical information from the internet. Through our investigative reporting, we examine the prevalence and operation of an organized censorship industry, predominantly funded by criminal entities, oligarchs, and disreputable businesses or individuals. Our findings allow internet users to gain insight into these censorship schemes’ sources, methods, and underlying objectives.
To accomplish this, we utilize the OSINT Tool provided by FakeDMCA.com and the Lumen API for Researchers, courtesy of the Lumen Database.
FakeDMCA.com is the work of an independent team of research students and cybersecurity professionals, developed under Project UnCensor. Their OSINT Tool, designed to uncover and analyze takedown notices, represents a significant step forward in combating these abusive practices. It has become a valuable resource, increasingly relied upon by journalists and law enforcement agencies across the United States.
Lumen, on the other hand, is an independent research initiative dedicated to studying takedown notices and other legal demands related to online content removal. The project, which operates under the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, plays a crucial role in tracking and understanding the broader implications of such requests.
By investigating the fake DMCA takedown attempts, we hope to shed light on the reputation management industry, revealing how Enagic Corporation and companies like it may use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking them to allegations of fraud, tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking…
List of Fake Copyright Notices for Enagic Corporation
Number of Fake DMCA Notice(s) | 1 |
Lumen Database Notice(s) | https://lumendatabase.org/notices/35297368 |
Sender(s) | Global Reuters |
Date(s) | August 03, 2023 |
Fake Link(s) Used by Scammers | https://global-reuters.com/kangen-water-the-scam-that-pays.html |
Original Link(s) Targeted | https://medium.com/@jamesw1956/the-scam-that-pays-93e6ae9a0a35 |
Evidence and Screenshots
Only Enagic Corporation Benefit from this crime.
Since the fake copyright takedown notices were designed to remove negative content for Enagic Corporation from Google, we assume Enagic Corporation or someone associated with Enagic Corporation is behind this scam. It is often a fly-by-night Online Reputation agency working on behalf of Enagic Corporation. In this case, Enagic Corporation, at best, will be an “accomplice” or an “accessory” to the crime. The specific laws may vary depending on the jurisdiction. Still, the legal principle generally holds that if you actively participate in planning, encouraging, or facilitating a crime, you can be charged with it, even if you did not personally commit it.
So, who tf is Enagic Corporation?
Enagic Corporation is a Japanese company that manufactures water ionization systems, most notably the Kangen Water filtration machines. The company operates using a multi-level marketing (MLM) business model, where independent distributors sell these machines and recruit others into the sales network, earning commissions. While Enagic markets its products as a pathway to better health, promising benefits from alkalized water, critics have raised numerous concerns over the company’s methods and legitimacy.
Why Are They Trying to Censor the Internet?
Enagic has been accused of attempting to silence critics and suppress negative information circulating on the internet. Articles like “Kangen Water: The Scam That Pays” published on Global Reuters and Medium highlight how the company uses aggressive legal tactics and media suppression to control its public image. Enagic’s efforts to censor damaging news seem to stem from a desire to protect its business model, which has drawn increasing scrutiny for questionable claims and deceptive marketing practices. The rise of online criticism and whistleblower testimonies has sparked the company to seek control over its narrative, using censorship and lawsuits as tools to mute opposition.
Major Concerns, Complaints, and Accusations Against Enagic Corporation
- Exaggerated Health Claims: One of the major criticisms is that Enagic promotes Kangen Water with extravagant and scientifically unsubstantiated health claims. The company suggests that drinking alkalized water from their machines can cure or prevent serious diseases like cancer, despite no credible scientific backing for these claims.
- Deceptive Marketing Tactics: Enagic’s MLM model has been criticized for encouraging misleading sales pitches from its distributors. These distributors often misinform potential customers, overselling the health benefits and the financial opportunities of becoming part of the network.
- MLM Pyramid Structure: Many see Enagic’s MLM structure as being exploitative. Critics argue that the company’s business model closely resembles a pyramid scheme, where the focus is more on recruiting new salespeople rather than selling actual products. Many distributors reportedly lose money due to the high costs of purchasing the machines themselves to meet sales quotas.
- Censorship and Legal Threats: In attempts to protect its brand, Enagic has been accused of silencing negative reviews and investigations by using legal threats or PR campaigns to downplay criticism. These censorship tactics are aimed at minimizing the spread of damaging news, especially as more consumers and former distributors speak out.
- High Product Prices and Misleading Earnings Promises: Kangen Water machines are often sold at a steep price, upwards of several thousand dollars. Many complaints highlight that these prices are unjustifiable, especially when comparable water filtration systems are available for much less. Additionally, distributors are often lured with promises of significant earnings, but many fail to profit due to the high cost of entry and the pressure to continually recruit new members.
In light of these concerns, Enagic’s efforts to control its narrative reflect the growing public skepticism surrounding MLM schemes and unproven health products, pushing the company to take drastic steps to protect its reputation.
Potential Consequences for Enagic Corporation
Under Florida Statute 831.01, the crime of Forgery is committed when a person falsifies, alters, counterfeits, or forges a document that carries “legal efficacy” with the intent to injure or defraud another person or entity.
Forging a document is considered a white-collar crime. It involves altering, changing, or modifying a document to deceive another person. It can also include passing along copies of documents that are known to be false. In many states in the US, falsifying a document is a crime punishable as a felony.
Additionally, under most laws, “fraud on the court” is where “a party has sentiently set in motion some unconscionable scheme calculated to interfere with the judicial system’s ability impartially to adjudicate a matter by improperly influencing the trier of fact or unfairly hampering the presentation of the opposing party’s claim or defense.” Cox v. Burke, 706 So. 2d 43, 46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (quoting Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corp., 892 F.2d 1115, 1118 (1st Cir. 1989)).
Is Enagic Corporation Committing a Cyber Crime?
Yes, it seems so. Enagic Corporation used multiple approaches to remove unwanted material from review sites and Google’s search results. Thanks to protections allowing freedom of speech in the United States, there are very few legal ways to do this. Enagic Corporation could not eliminate negative reviews or search results that linked to them without a valid claim of defamation, copyright infringement, or some other clear breach of the law.
Faced with these limitations, some companies like Enagic Corporation have gone to extreme lengths to fraudulently claim copyright ownership over a negative review in the hopes of taking it down.
Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. Enagic Corporation is certainly keeping interesting company here….
The DMCA takedown process requires that copyright owners submit a takedown notice to an ISP identifying the allegedly infringing content and declaring, under penalty of perjury, that they have a good faith belief that the content is infringing. The ISP must then promptly remove or disable access to the content. The alleged infringer can then submit a counter-notice, and if the copyright owner does not take legal action within 10 to 14 days, the ISP can restore the content.
Since these platforms are predominantly based in the U.S., the complaints are typically made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which requires online service providers and platforms to react immediately to reports or violations. Big Tech companies rarely have systems in place to assess the merit of each report. Instead, all bad actors need to do is clone a story, backdate it, and then demand the real thing be taken down.
What was Enagic Corporation trying to hide?
Enagic Corporation, the company behind the Kangen Water machines, has faced a significant amount of negative attention, ranging from complaints and bad reviews to allegations of unethical business practices. The adverse news and accusations the company appears to be trying to suppress include the following:
1. Allegations of a Pyramid Scheme
Enagic’s multi-level marketing (MLM) structure has been frequently criticized for closely resembling a pyramid scheme. In MLMs like Enagic’s, distributors often earn more from recruiting new members than from direct sales of the products. Many critics and online sources, including the articles referenced, argue that the real profit lies in building a sales team rather than selling Kangen Water machines. This model disproportionately benefits those at the top while leaving most distributors struggling to recoup their investments.
2. Complaints About Exaggerated Health Claims
One of the most damaging allegations is that Enagic makes exaggerated and unsubstantiated health claims about the benefits of its Kangen Water products. Distributors often suggest that drinking the ionized, alkalized water can prevent or cure diseases such as cancer, diabetes, or arthritis. These health claims lack strong scientific evidence, and regulatory bodies, including the FDA, have not endorsed them. Articles like “Kangen Water: The Scam That Pays” highlight this issue, emphasizing the misleading nature of these health promises.
3. Consumer and Distributor Complaints
Many consumer complaints focus on the high price of Enagic’s water filtration machines, which can cost thousands of dollars. In addition to product pricing, former distributors have shared stories of financial loss after joining the company, revealing how they were misled into believing they could make substantial profits. The Medium article by James W. dives into the challenges distributors face, particularly the high entry costs and the pressure to recruit more members, which often leads to significant financial stress.
4. Legal Threats and Censorship
According to the referenced articles, Enagic has taken aggressive steps to control the online narrative surrounding its business. The company has allegedly used legal threats to silence critics, removing negative reviews and complaints from online forums, including social media, and even pursuing lawsuits against whistleblowers. This effort to censor critical news is viewed as an attempt to prevent further exposure of their questionable business model.
5. False Promises of Income
Enagic has been accused of luring potential distributors with promises of significant financial rewards. However, reports indicate that the majority of distributors fail to make a profit, with some even losing money due to the need to purchase expensive products to stay active in the MLM. This issue is emphasized in various online complaints and critical articles, showcasing that the earnings potential is overstated, and the success stories promoted by Enagic are not representative of the typical experience.
6. Product Quality vs. Competitors
Another issue being highlighted in adverse reviews is that Kangen Water machines are not necessarily superior to other water filtration products available at much lower prices. Despite the high cost of Kangen machines, many users report that the machines offer no additional benefits compared to cheaper alternatives. This has led to accusations that Enagic inflates the price to support its MLM payout structure rather than delivering superior product quality.
7. Lack of Transparency
There are allegations that Enagic Corporation lacks transparency, both in terms of product efficacy and business practices. Critics accuse the company of failing to provide clear, evidence-based information about how their water ionization technology works or its true benefits. In addition, the business structure and earnings potential are often obscured or misrepresented to new recruits.
In summary, Enagic Corporation is working to hide a wide range of complaints, bad reviews, and damaging news related to its MLM structure, false health claims, misleading income promises, and aggressive censorship. The company’s efforts to stifle criticism and prevent negative exposure reflect the growing scrutiny of its business model and practices.