The penis enlargement products market, in recent years, has been growing in leaps and bounds. The sellers of the products make bogus claims to convince intending users that what they are selling is effective, yet science has confirmed that no product can increase the size of a penis of an adult. While the merchants of lies are smiling to the bank with humongous profits from mostly spurious drugs, oils, creams, herbs, and pumps, victims of the scam called penis enlargement products are gnashing their teeth in disappointment. However, beyond the scam is the warning of health experts that these spurious products could cause serious health problems. AMARACHI OKEH reports:
For some men, their self-esteem and confidence are connected to the length of their penis. Consequently, any opinion that seems to question the length of their sex organ usually has a serious psychological effect on them. This has pushed many men into buying all sorts of penis enlargement products.
For instance, 38-year-old Andy Livinus (Not his real name), had always been worried about the size of his penis. He, however, said he completely lost his self-confidence after his previous partner told him he has a small penis.
Livinus who lives in Lagos said that the declaration of his girlfriend about the size of his penis drove him to look for penis enlargement products.
It took weeks of convincing before Livinus agreed to share his experience with our correspondent and he noted that he is still battling self-confidence as a result of his concern about the size of his penis.
Speaking with NNL HealthWise, the 38-year-old trader said he is always distressed whenever he had to recount his experience with his girlfriend and her complaint about his penis size.
The distraught trader said, “My partners complained of lack of satisfaction during sex and attributed the condition to me having a small penis.
“I lost confidence in myself and began searching for a solution. I was willing to buy anything that promised to enlarge my penis.”
Futile search for effective product
Instead of resigning to fate or suffering in silence, Livinus said he patronised many marketers of penile enlargement products but lamented that the products did not work.
To worsen the situation, Livinus said he suffered a skin reaction that eventually prompted him to seek urgent medical care from a urologist in a government-recognised medical facility.
Livinus said, “So, I went online to two popular e-commerce sites and bought some penis enlargement products. The product that has the least duration in usage was the one that lasted for about three months. And they are all expensive. Yet, they didn’t work. So, I temporarily stopped using them.
“I was, however, still ashamed of myself and my penis size. So, after some time, I tried again by contacting another seller.
“I was shy to discuss my condition with the person physically, so we spoke on the phone and he assured me that his product would work.
“It still didn’t work. The painful part was that for each of those products, I spent between N10,000 to N20,000. I had no positive improvement, instead, I had a skin reaction to one of the products.”
Livinus said he suffered double jeopardy, noting that he was scammed of his money and also suffered further harm after using the ineffective products.
Who are the sellers?
The sellers of penis enlargement products are in different segments and classes. Some of the sellers are found on the roadside discreetly displaying their products.
However, the majority of them have gone digital and operate mostly on social media platforms and e-commerce sites.
An online search for ‘where to buy penis enlargement products in Nigeria’ brought out several sellers who sell their products via google ads. Many of these sellers are also found advertising their products on porn sites.
Our correspondent began tracking some of these identified sellers to understand how they convince their victims to buy the spurious products.
Our correspondent feigned desperation as a newly wedded wife whose husband has a small penis and needed a product that can enlarge it.
Through a discreet search on google, the reporter located and engaged six different sellers who could only be reached over the phone and WhatsApp. None of the sellers, investigation revealed, have a physical office location.
One of such landing pages that our reporter found sold a product called Strong Man which the seller boasted can help a man overcome small manhood in 14 days, even though the product advertised did not have any specific information to back such a claim.
Our correspondent contacted the number displayed on the online landing page over the phone claiming that she needed a solution for her husband’s small penis.
Without asking questions to make a proper diagnosis, the seller launched into the marketing of a penis enlargement oil.
He claimed the oil would increase the husband’s penis in no time assuring her that his penis enlargement product would increase her husband’s penis by two inches if she bought a bottle and by 4 inches if she bought two.
He said, “We have an enlargement oil that will help your husband to perform well in bed and make his manhood to be big and long.
“One bottle of our product will increase his manhood by two inches but two bottles will increase it by four inches.
“It depends on how long and thick you want him to be. You will surely see the effect within 14 days. You’d use the product morning and night.
But when our reporter said she was concerned about the claims as she had read studies that say the penis cannot grow after puberty, he brushed it off saying that those research claims were written by e-writers desperate for page views.
“So, you are guaranteeing me his penis will grow and increase in size?” our reporter asked
“You have a 100 percent guarantee. It is produced in the US so you have a 100 percent guarantee of this product,” he assured our correspondent.
Our correspondent was asked to pay for the oil which he said will cost N15,000.
Our correspondent eventually paid N15,000 to the account number provided bearing the name Olayode Adejare and the seller promised that the product would be sent the same day.
After acknowledging receipt of the N15,000, Adejare did not deliver the product. Rather, he proceeded to block our correspondent on his phone lines.
Also, when our correspondent was able to reach him through another phone number, and upon realising it was the customer he had blocked that was calling him to ask for her money back, he quickly cut the call and blocked the new number.
A search of his details on Facebook provided our correspondent with a picture of this penis enlargement marketer turned scammer.However, our correspondent was able to track him down with the account details through a bank contact who provided his full name, picture and address.
This provides evidence that some of the marketers of these spurious penis enlargement products are also scammers.
What police is doing
Have there been cases like this reported to the police? The Police image maker for Lagos state, CSP. Adekunle Ajisebutu told our correspondent that they hardly get reports of buyers of these products being scammed.
This, according to him, could be due to low self-esteem or fear of the buyers who usually decided to rather lick their wounds in private.
“Our penis enlargement products would enlarge his penis in 14 days”
Four other sellers contacted by our reporter offered different variants of products that they claim can enlarge the penis.
They promised that after 14 days, the man would begin to see results of an enlarged and lengthened penis.
Speaking with our correspondent, one of the traders identified by the True Caller App as Male Supplements said that his product would do more than just enlarge his penis. It would also take care of quick ejaculation – he claimed.
“The first thing my product will do is it will flush out unnecessary particles that are in his body so that it will make his penis respond well.
“Within 2 weeks he will start seeing the result. It is herbal medicine. It doesn’t have any chemical and it doesn’t have any side effect whatsoever,” he told our correspondent.
As though to further convince our reporter of the commonness of the situation, Male Supplement assured our correspondent that she was not the only woman who had called him to seek a solution for such issues.
Another marketer, identified by True Caller as Thankgod Uzo, told our correspondent that the product would enlarge her husband’s penis.
His product, Max Man Enlarging Gel boosts that it is ‘THE ONLY GUARANTEED PRODUCT that brings SOLUTION for Small Manhood, Weak Erection and Premature Ejaculation’.
This vendor offered our reporter the option of paying on delivery.
He said, “Apply the product with the tip of the finger, massage the penis gently while stroking it once every morning and evening for about 5 – 10 minutes,” he said.
My product will not enlarge the penis
However, one of the retailers stated clearly that his product can’t enlarge the penis of an adult man if the condition has been from birth.
Unlike the other marketers making bogus claims without even asking questions about the intended user, this seller was interested in the background of the intending customer.
“There are some conditions where the penis is very small from birth. So, for those conditions, I do not think our drugs can work for them.
“If it is something from birth, I do not know how to get it enlarged. Because I have seen a couple of conditions whereby people complain of it from birth. I really do not know how to enlarge such a penis.
“If the person was born with a small penis, I believe it will be very very difficult to enlarge it. What he can do is to find a way to manage it,” he admitted.
One common line that all the marketers’ used was to claim that they are not based in Lagos, but they were always quick to assure that they can deliver their product state – even same day – without delay, claiming to have agents across the country.
Investigations, however, revealed that this was just a ploy to avoid physical contact between themselves and the buyers to ensure they are unreachable with complaints when the products failed and also when they decided not to even supply at all.
Livinus, however, warned other buyers to be wary of these vendors, noting that their claims are bogus and false.
Erectile dysfunction products, aphrodisiacs packaged as penis enlargement products
Our correspondent also ordered some products from Jumia and Konga.
Some of these penis enlargement products include a gel, a cream, oil and also coffee.
Most of the products are imported and are mostly from Asia and Europe. None had a NAFDAC number.
An initial attempt by our correspondent to run a laboratory analysis of these products to know their content was, however, not successful. The two different laboratories contacted said the ingredients in the products are too numerous to be analysed.
Our correspondent then resorted to searching online to ascertain the ingredients listed in the packs and discovered that they are mostly aphrodisiacs while some of the ingredients are for treating erectile dysfunction. Continue Reading
