Sneeze Study Scam

Have you been contacted by someone to participate in a sneeze study.  This person is targeting alternative medicine practitioners.

I was contacted over a year ago and asked to participate in a sneeze study.  I refused because the information provided to me did not make sense and intuitively I could sense something was amiss.  On Saturday I was once again called by the same person and recruited.  I was busy, but curious how he could have “forgotten” he had already contacted me.  I couldn’t find any information online about what appears to be a scam or fraudulent activity so I wanted to post a blog to share the info and see what other’s experience has been.

The man introduces himself as a Dr. Rice or Price or something like that.  He is a Ph.D. psychologist in Canada with a master’s in bio-mechanics.  I didn’t ask a lot of questions, like I did the first time, but basically he calls with caller ID blocked, refuses to give a call back number (“he is just recruiting and someone else will be following up with the study if I agree to participate”), and will not give out University affiliation, etc.  The study is being conducted by a woman in Korea and it is supposedly her dissertation study.  Last time I tried to search on him and her and could find no references.

He asks me if I am a practitioner of EFT, quantum healing, ThetaHealing, etc.  Apparently, he doesn’t know who I am, but “they” gave him a list of people that supposedly fit that description. He spends a good twenty minutes asking few questions and explaining sneeze mechanism and how it correlates to stress and cortisol.  The benefits of the study is to reduce stress and tone my abdominal muscles as I learn to sneeze on command and will do so four days a week, nine minutes a day for eight months.

The script he uses was the same both times.  Last time, I refused to participate and this time I went to the next step and he set up a time to call me back.  Since he talked about payment in August at the end of the study being $5500 by “gift” visa debit card and the training period being $75 taxable requiring a 1099 I was thinking it was a financial scam.  I expected him to request my tax ID and other such stuff, but he never addressed that.

Instead, he called today 1.5 hours after our appointment time (apologized for getting the time zone wrong) and proceeded to start my training.  He repeated a lot of the same information and then had me move to a mirror so I could describe my umbilicus (the acupuncture point CV8).  He was very elaborate.  Size, shape etc illustrated my physical age, stress level, etc.  We were 30 minutes into the call when he wanted to teach me how to sneeze.  When he suggested I go outside and get a blade of grass I hung up.  This was because I had found information about a sneeze scam involving phone auditions where a “pervert” had the “actor” stick various stuff up there nose to try to induce a sneeze.

It seemed that he was not trying to steal financial information from me.  He could have started with that, but was slowly leading me on.  If you have been contacted, please leave a post and let others know.

Reasons this was not a real study:

  1. He said the study began two weeks ago and this was the last day to enroll. (Well, he called me a year ago with the same line.)
  2. He said the study would have over 300 participants.  Each would make $3500 at the end of the study.  If they had a Ph.D. then the pay out would be $5500.  The training was paid at $75 on top of that.  That would mean a Ph.D. student in Korea was conducting a one to two million dollar study.  Not a chance.  And sneezing is not patentable, so no rich drug company sponsor.
  3. A man with a Ph.D. is working for a student.
  4. They refuse to provide any contact info.
  5. They quote HIPPA this and that, but they are not getting signed consent
  6. All entities are outside US, yet they talk about 1099 reporting.
  7. A variety of other conduct which is not how research studies are conducted.

Thanks!

 

40 thoughts on “Sneeze Study Scam

    • Was contacted recently and it’s no joke. Please contact the authorities there’s more to it pertaining to perverted deviant who charms and looks to entice you into doing things for the sake of science or the study which may be over the top. Please don’t fall for it and do not judge. Anyone can fall for scams like this for this Dr Imposer is sleek and cunning not a dumb ignorant. Keep the children away the so called Dr wanted contact with my child and was looking to win his trust all over the phone yet very chillin stuff I were able to hung up on him once he went weird with talk of a sensual nature. Yet some people may remain on the phone thinking they may get pay working with an actual Dr and a true study. It’s a scam yet be mindful because it appears it’s all pedophiles behind it. Please watch your children. I was contacted a week ago on Friday and the following Sat called all day I had my phone turned off and I have The authorities on the case. My fiancée is a lawyer so he really isolating on thin ice. Be blessed everyone and please turn this freaks in to the law. Don’t stay quiet don’t let them win by keeping quiet. It’s more than making you sneeze he tries to use hipnotic persuasion to make you do impure things for the sake of the university study and advance science discoveries. Report it!!!

  1. I have been participating in the study along with several of my clients since February…Dr. Bryce was very convincing. I am mortified and embarrassed. I hope i don’t lose all crediblity with my clients. I am tyring not to be too hard on myself. Things over the last couple months have not been adding up, and there were many of the vidoes (minors as well) that were being subscribed to. I reported them to youtube to have them banned and I think I was successfull I hope no one else gets hurt.

  2. Hi! Wow… I’m actually at the grocery now getting my cascade to participate in this study. Exactly the same as you’ve all described. Same “science talk”, getting me to talk about things that were personal, and even posting one series on YouTube. There’s no info and caller ID is “no caller ID” on my phone when he calls. Asks my info multiple times as if we hadn’t previously talked. Asked if I knew of anyone else who could do the study (my daughter, and if I wanted to work with my husband on the more sensitive things). I agreed to enroll my daughter but I asked how she would get paid and where I could refer her to if she had questions. He never answered my questions simply stating that someone was working on their phd and the study would be published in Nov 2017.

    Now, I am putting my cascade soap back and I will not answer the phone again if they call.

    I am mostly confused because they did get my info somehow and I am a natural practitioner. The study “makes sense” if you think about it, but also raises a lot of questions.

    I will note that there was no time allotted me to “grab” items, for example, he kept saying, “now do this”, “you know that’s wrong”, more affirmative-type statements than questions.

    Thanks for posting this!!

  3. I’ve been contacted and I’ve been searching online to verify if this is a real study or not. I will admit I do feel foolish to be so trusting. He called himself Dr. Collins and yes, sounds very authentic and convincing with his medical terminology. Yet something still seemed off to me but again since I wasn’t able to find anything to debunk this study I continued for another week, until now. I’m glad I was able to find this and everything I read was nearly exact to what I was told to do or what I experienced.

  4. I was wondering if there was anything more we could do about this, so I just called my local police. The officer I talked to said that unless someone has been harmed, no crime has been committed. Maybe I’ll post again on social media…. She said the best we can do is spread the word.

  5. I was just contacted as well. I’m a Reflexologist and I was “referred” to him. When I probed a little farther it had nothing to do with being referred it had everything to do with my name being found in a directory.
    Anyways all the information posted above is almost identical to what I heard except the names are different and the monies are different. I think they are refining the scam.
    The whole deal wasn’t passing the sniff test so I decided to go to the internet to research it.
    He did ask if I had children and encouraged me to get them involved in the study. If this is a pedophile ring I’d like to choke him when he calls me back.
    Jerks…

  6. I was just called this morning. “Dr. Robert Henderson”. Felt off to me as well; I didn’t anwer 1.5 hours after our scheduled next time.. the first time he called 3x in a row & it said Private. Second time it said Unknown Caller. I’m so glad you posted this, and that my instincts were right!

  7. Hi , this scam is still going,I too got sucked in with my 10 year old special needs child, he tried to get my 17 year for old son involved but he didn’t feel right about about it, I did it for about two months. I remember asking Dr Robert if this was a scam and he said “I would never be apart of a scam, I have my name and integrity on the line” well that was bs. I reported it to an FBI website, filled out all the info and its being investigated. So sad that a person can be so sick in the head!

    • Hi, Jen – Can you share the FBI department you reported him to? I would like to add to that file, for what it’s worth. Thank you for sharing your story. I’m sorry you were also a target of this person.

      • Yes, I would share my experience with him as well on the site. I’ll try to find the fbi website but the link would be helpful.

  8. It doesn’t look like anyone made it to the end and found out it was a scam. I’m so confused, it could be a scam, a super weird scam where I don’t loose any money? I am participating in this study now and it has been extended twice. So maybe it’s a scam and their stringing me along? A part of me wants to make it to the end and find out if the money will show up.

    • I think it’s a scam in terms of they want something from you that they have no intention of paying you for. I honestly think whoever this is is just a pervert who gets off on watching people’s stomachs and having people do weird things while listening over the phone , and who now has access to personal information about you. Proceed with extreme caution if your going to hang out with them. Plus, what legit study would seriously ask you to sniff dish detergent?

  9. Thank you so much for your reply. It is very kind of you to help a total stranger with this confusing situation.

    Regarding the detergent, I don’t know science is weird. This is crazy because it was all so believable he got so many things right. Weird things like what type of thoughts I was having while recording, negative versus positive. I was convinced my energy was being read by some fancy computer software… I’m going to stop though because I think your right. Why didn’t we sign anything for HIPPA? Why no communication point person? When he calls again I’m going to ask him to prove the validity of this, hopefully he does!!!

    The sneezing was supposed to help my son get over his stutter. It’s really all about him. I love the hypothesis that sneezing lowers your cortisol symbiotically lowering your children’s cortisol and curing social disorders like autism and stuttering…. ahhh, oh well.

    This “study” (in conjunction with Louise Hay & Abraham Hicks) helped me let go of nearly all my past traumas and current rifts with loved ones, brought my husband and I closer, renewed our sex life and opened those lines of communication. I think I was sexually repressed and have come a long way in that area. It has my son and I sneezing, his stutter has subsided a bit and I haven’t gotten sick with even a cold for nine months which, for me, is a miracle. Especially since friends and family have had countless flus, colds and stomach bugs.

    Is it weird? Definitely.
    Is it a scam? There is no proof of that.
    Do I appreciate all of you for talking about this? Especially you Amy for your quick response and just for caring. YES, definitely. I love and thank each you for all of this, thank you all so much. You have each made me feel less alone and helped me look this critically.

    If I get proof this is a scam or not a scam I will be back to post it.

    Thank you again,

  10. This is 100% a scam

    I am the same person that posted the last comments under the name anonymous. I have gone through the entire “sneeze therapy” to receive no money whatsoever. Doctor douche bag, will just try to string you along for as long as possible. when I first figured this out I was in total denial, as you can tell by my comments. Then when I begin to realize it was true, that I had totally been scammed. I could not for the life of me figure out what he had gotten out of it. Abdomens? I couldn’t stop laughing!! He wants to look at abdomens?!?! So badly that he will spend God knows how long talking people into this ridiculous process? Who cares about stomachs that much? You can literally see stomachs of all sort all summer long, what a freak. Then after two days of laughter and another few weeks making sure this was a scam I began to realize many people may feel bad about them selves because of this jerk faced freak show. I hope no one does. This was not our fault, it is his. My heart goes out to anyone who is hurt by him or had children in contact with him.

    • I did a tiny bit of research and belly buttons fetishes are the number two searches for fetish. So this is some dude who has the fetish AND gets his kicks from the power do the phone calls as well. So gross to take advantage of people that way.

  11. Hi I just got the same kind of call this week and fell for it. I am a holistic healer. This “Doctor” who apparently changes his name for each victim, said he is Dr. Richard Moore. The “study” seemed very fishy to my 29 year old son who lives with me, as Richard tried to recruit him for $3500. His calls were from a “private number” like the women above. This Richard person tried to get my son involved and asked what his body looked like. He asked me personal questions too, like about my body hair, you know, down there. I did 4 videos today. I will be erasing them now. I was very direct with him as I was irritated he called me an hour earlier than he had scheduled and made me get out of bed for his “training”, and I had to cancel a doctors appointment for this silliness. He says he is calling from Australia. I asked a lot of hard questions and he got nervous and upset. God bless you people for adding your stories and bless Tesli and Amy for this report. Thank God for Google, I felt weird because my son is very smart and aware so I googled “sneeze study scam” and found this post! Yay! Maybe he has a stake in Chhinkni powder? I bought $40 worth on Ebay, silly me! For sure he is a perv and a sick person. I hope he gets help or gets put away in a dark hole for his nonsense. We should alert Dr. Bruce Lipton, who he credits with the student’s dissertation, who he says is Dr. Capo Wong. How can someone be a doctor and a student? Didn’t add up. He directed me to a website called neura.edu.au. Which didn’t have anything about anything or this study! My son said the red flag for him were the words “Gift Card” for payment. Usually a scam. So are cold calls from a private number.

  12. This same guy called me yesterday morning at 6:30 AM. He referred to himself as a doctor. I was a Bowen Therapy practitioner so he got my name from that list apparently. He said he was calling from Australia and gave me the same story that he has been telling everyone else. It didn’t feel right to me so I Googled “sneeze study scam” and found this site and all of your comments. He is very pushy but at the same time much of what he was saying did make sense. As I was reading all of the comments, he called me again. I told him “what a coincidence that you are calling me now as I’m reading all about you and your scam on the internet”. There are way too many people ‘out there’ like this freak.

  13. I also was contacted a couple of weeks ago. Same story same lines and he wanted me to participate with my friend’s 2 girls (age 9 and age 10). He didn’t ask for financial info or anything and there did not appear to be an alternative motive. So we played along for the first “training”. I thought it was odd that he called me out of the blue and wanted me to start right then with no preparation and not even asking me if I had free time. He kept saying I would get paid and they would get paid. I talked to their dad about it who then asked their doctor about it and was told it was a scam and showed us this blog. Thankful for this as I could have gone pretty far down that rabbit hole. What a waste of our time. I am embarrassed I fell for it and super ashamed that I got two innocent girls involved. I am hoping others see this and realize it’s a scam. He called the next day (no caller ID) and I answered and then hung up on him. I have not heard from him since.

  14. I think I just fell pray to this weirdos scam. How he got my name and phone number is beyond me and he sounded agitated when I asked. Said he was calling from Australia over the internet and referenced this website: http://www.neura.edu.au
    It happened to have been the middle of the night in Australia. I have contacted the business’s website with his name. Study sounded legit until he asked me to put an unsanitary brush straw in my nose. He asked a number of personal questions and seemed to follow a script. As for the scam part I’m not sure what he wanted, photos? Videos? Phone numbers and names? So bizarre. This just happened today. You know when you get that creepy feeling that this just isn’t right? Always follow your gut!

  15. Wow, he got to me too. He found me on the Angelic Reiki website, said his name was Dr. Pete Gallagher. He is very good at this obviously. He said he was working with NeuRA.edu.au. There is a real looking website, but I contacted them and told them what is going on and asked if it is legit. I had only posted a couple of videos and deleted them this morning. I had lots of questions, but he wouldn’t give me any contact info, and that made me really wonder. Thanks so much everyone for researching this guy and posting. He said I was super blocked because I couldn’t sneeze too easily, so I did a bunch of self healings! Helped soooo much. I’m going to take this an interesting learning experience!! Hope the same for all of you!! Definitely recommend cord cutting, disconnecting with this guy on an energetic level!

    • Hi, Martie – I was also told I was very blocked because I can’t sneeze easily! As a holistic healer and reiki practitioner, I am interested in new ways to heal, and I was curious. Despite being a healer I’m also a bit of a skeptic, and throughout this experience I thought, “I really need to be less skeptical, so I’m going to give this a chance.” Pretty ironic. With a positive shift in my emotional well-being resulting from the “study,” I think I learned some valuable lessons about how to approach healing and support others. Confidence and support in the process is essential and goes such a long way to help someone reframe and rebuild their emotional landscape. Thank you for sharing your experience.

  16. I am extremely confused and surprised as to the link sent me on one of my case study uploads. I am aware of these kinds of scams although as i went through the process of learning about what this case study is imposing i never felt that it was a scam. I spoke to Dr. Peter Gallagher, but did follow up on him online and couldn’t find anything. I was given a link to youtube that showed the Korean Dr. that is the root of the study which gave me a feeling of security that i wasnt the only one going to be doing this. what was alarming to me was that today going in on my computer i see that i have 9 subscribers and inappropriate comments. i was concerned with that part that you needed your pants at the lower level to get to the illiac crest. also, this neuro-physcologist i spoke to was extrememly caring and on time, actually ahead of time for me and spent 4 hours with me on the training call, also concerning a toxic relationship of mine that connected directly to the case study agenda. if this is truly a scam, then i am going to be baffled. He spoke to me about the pedophilic tendencies that a past partner of mine was carrying and his concerns for me in this. he has a big heart even if he is scamming me. this made me feel like it was real. there were no contracts, just speaking of payment at the end and payment of each initial scan. i am annoyed that i cannot contact them at all since it came in through a no caller ID and the gentleman is located in australia. i was contacted two more times after there was suppose to be no more contact until Janurary 2021 for me, because of either scans not propagating correctly or that i wasnt doing my L scans. which i never felt comfortable with.
    i am extremely bummed that this is coming off as a scam and that i have fallen into yet another trap because this really would have supported me financially in a beneficial way, and a part of me, still, wants to believe this isnt a scam. this page and the other reviews has me second thinking. did anyone on here ever get paid for this case study?
    not sure what to think right now. i went into this study trusting myself deeply and not allowing external influences stop me from being provided for by universal forces through myself. i am an energetic practitioner working with crystals and the mind and that was how i was sought out. this felt real. i am slightly embarrassed as i mentioned small tidbits to my family, and them knowing my past with these kinds of things will be an interesting tale to tell.

    • i want to add also. this gentleman was a very heartfelt man. he clearly had been in the rodio of this for a while. he said to me many times that he wanted me to feel empowered and take back my power for myself and for the rest of my life.
      through this i have learned to deal with my resistance and dedicating myself to things that will empower me. i was also told that by the end of the study i will be receiving $4500 for the masters program because of my background and that i will be able to be certified in the study and have actual clients sent to me to train. anybody else told this?

      • i am definitely in a state of denial. i have deleted all of my videos for the sake of my mental safety and these inappropriate comments. “bless u baby” ewww!!!! i was also told that i will be recieving a set of images and the aura color that is emitted in the scans from the computer. when i last spoke to dr. peter, he was saying that my aura is changing colors and that my body type is less standard than most people with a slit like navel. denial is real, and that is what i am feeling. part of me wants to go through the duration and see if this is real and the other part of me doesnt want to waste that kind of time as two sets of scans for me take at least an hour each to finish and finding that time can be challenging with the rest of my life. only one L scan done and dont plan on doing any more ESPECIALLY to be loaded on youtube a public platform for literally anyone to see. i thought i had transcended from this naive state but seems like the other end is getting more and more tactical to lure people in. especially being in the energetic realm, it baffles me that people can be so smart and manipulating for some sort of game even in this industry. this isnt even the first time ihave encountered a scam like energetic practitioner. this time is was just online. so to say the least, i have learned a lot. i have learned a lot about myself and what to look for in scams and what to be aware of. thank you.

  17. So much to digest, here. I went through the entire “study” between July-December 2020. It happened during my pregnancy—“Dr. Richard Moore” claimed the study was going to boost my baby’s immune system, and told me it was so fortunate for my unborn child that I was doing this.

    All of everything I’m reading here — he seemed weird but compassionate, and I didn’t like that I couldn’t reach someone with questions. The whole thing felt suspicious, but I guess there was *just enough* in his claims that seemed plausible. I figured there was a 50-50 chance it was bogus. I decided to undertake it because we needed the money, and I thought I couldn’t turn down an opportunity for the $5500; I had to take the risk. My dad is the one who shared this thread with me after listening to me worry over and over that the money wasn’t ever going to come; that it had been a scam after all.

    The study consumed at least an hour of my time every day for 5 months. I think I’m angriest about the time I spent doing that when I was on my honeymoon, and the 3 months after my child was born when I could have been bonding with them.

    I also do feel ashamed and foolish that I fell for this sick person’s scheme. My partner is furious that someone (or maybe many people) watched me in awkward states of partial undress. I’m livid I was being watched while pregnant — it feels like a double violation.

    I kept the videos I posted (I switched the settings from Public to Private so he can’t access them anymore) because I keep hoping they can be used as evidence. I don’t know what that would mean; I just want to keep a trail.

    I also want to find the silver lining and lesson in all of this. I did feel a (very subtle) shift in my relationship to some past traumas. I guess that goes to show how powerful our minds are. I can be grateful for that healing even as I’m angry about the means to that end. I can also be grateful for the reminder to not ignore my intuition when it tells me something isn’t right.

    Thank you to everyone for your posts and insights. I’m also grateful for each of you.

  18. I just spent an hour on the phone with this guy from Perth Australia that contact me because he got a referral about that I’m an energy worker and a sneeze studying how I can make $4500 and that the study would come out and some big journal in April and I was almost sucked in but when I got off the phone I decided to search for a sneeze scam and here you are I can’t believe it just got off the phone with him

  19. I too have been contacted by the guy. I actually have heard the guy out and thought well this is a different modality to have in my “toolbag”. i listened and actually went off on the guy several times because of how my daughter giggled and him telling her this was not a joke and she needs to take it seriously. Then him telling me to tell my husband to quit interrupting us. I acted straight from ego when letting him know a thing or two. We decided not to answer any of his calls last week.

  20. I received the call today from Dr. Kline saying he was from the Brain Foundation. I was given a website http://www.brainfoundation.org/au. He asked if I had a doctorate in Psychology. (I do not) He asked if I had children, I identified my 14-year-old adopted daughter. He offered us $6500 each to participate in his study that is to be released in July 2022. He took us through sneezing exercises. Then announced we would be getting $8500 apiece and CEU’s for continuing certification. We got disconnected twice and he called us back each time. He was quite chatty and seemingly knowledgeable on his neurological discussion. The entire process was over four hours! By the end of this, he had added tuition for my daughter to become a certified hypnotist and an additional $850 because my husband was a disabled veteran and I was acting as a caregiver. He said he was in Australia and that it was late at night. He said he was from Michigan with a Master’s in BioEngineering as well as his doctorate in Psychology. He added he had twin 16-year-old sons. He was supportive and encouraging but my scam radar was up. However, my daughter did respond to his questions. Now I feel really sad and guilty to discover we were duped. So gullible in our desire for funds to enhance our daughter’s college fund.

  21. I received a call from this scammer this morning. I am a Yoga Therapist. He sounds legit, having some knowledge of polyvagal theory and the autonomic nervous system. I am amazed that someone has this much idle time on their hands! Thanks for creating this post. The guy I spoke to claimed to be in Australia, working for this organization:
    https://www.neura.edu.au/

    • I just got off the phone with him and decided to google. I am also a yoga therapist which he said he was specifically looking for. He seemed to know a lot about polyvagal theory which is a fascination of mine, and that was the initial hook. After he got me to sneeze a few times he tried to talk me into snorting dishwasher detergent. Um no buddy, I’m not doing that.

      Then he started asking about who I could practice on. When I said maybe my sister or my son’s girlfriend, and maybe my son he wanted to know their heights and weights were, but only the females, not my son’s. That was when my Spidey sense went off.

      Reading through your comments I’m so freaked out! I guess I better go make myself sneeze to release the energy out of my cells. *shudder* Thank you for this blog and I can’t believe it’s still going strong after all these years. So scary.

  22. This scam has been revived. Guy calling himself Dr. Brooks this time and targeting me as an aromatherapist. He hHung on me when I would not tell him my daughter’s private info.

  23. This scam has been revived. Guy calling himself Dr. Brooks this time and targeting me as an aromatherapist. He hung on me when I would not tell him my daughter’s private info.

  24. I’m now worried. I received the same type of call however now they have you go directly to Amazon and buy a product to make you sneeze. I’m worried the seller is tied to this (I reported this to Amazon) but that they use this purchase to get your address. Too much personal info was shared about myself and my 15 year old daughter. They may be using this for targeting us in person. I’m also reporting to the police. Scary stuff.

    • I can’t believe this is still going on. I never thought about the tie to the Amazon seller (I also purchased that product). May I ask what you told the police when you reported? I’m still troubled 3 years later that I fell for this.

  25. I am a recent victim of this. It happened over the weekend and I’m feeling incredibly fucked up about it. Thanks for sharing this information, I’m sorry to the others that have experienced this and very curious about what of anything can be done about it.

Leave a Reply to Kellie Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *