Patient's Guide
Request a
consult
Contact
Blog
Dr. Payman Simoni Complaints on Extortion Sites
In this age of technology, with everything at our fingertips, at all hours of
the day, we of course take advantage. Whether we are booking a hotel, looking
for a new restaurant to eat dinner, or even just buying a book most of us go
straight to the reviews as our deciding factors. What consumers need to know
though is that not all of these reviews are accurate and some are even downright
lies.
As of late, plastic surgeons have been the main target of an extortion scam in
which patients threaten to post negative comments and ratings about doctors and
their practices on social and forum websites. Having this happen to him- famed
Beverly Hills facial plastic surgeon
Dr. Payman Simoni explains how “one con artist requested $100,000 or she
threatened to ruin my reputation online. Soon finding out we were not the only
victim of her scam (she had done this to a handful of other plastic surgeons) we
were quick to turn her down, and in no time hundreds of negative posts against
us were scattered throughout the internet. This resulted in potential patients,
not aware of this type of deception, reading the posts and canceling procedures”
To make matters worse, some websites are taking part in this online fraud
themselves and requesting exuberant amounts of money from plastic surgeons
to remove these fake posts. Websites like ripoffreport.com and
pissedconsumer.com are at the forefront of these extortion schemes. “These
websites invite negative comments and block positive ones to force plastic
surgeons (among others) in to paying them kickbacks” states Simoni.
So next time you head to review sites to read what “patients” have to say about
a doctor or his practice, take into consideration the fact that not all these
reviews may be in good faith. The best way to see if a doctor is right for you
is to go in for yourself, have a consultation, and see his or her work by way of
before and after photos etc. We all know choosing a doctor is an important
decision and being cautious is wise, just be wise enough to know not to believe
everything you hear…or read.