It's hard to say how long these scam devices have been around. They were originally sold by travelling salesmen with "trick" display cases. They were also sold by mail order in newspapers and magazines, complete with fake testimonials enthusing about how wonderful they were.

In reality they do nothing and they even do that badly. The bulk of the circuitry is to light power indicator LEDs, with maybe a token gesture random capacitor to tick a box of "doing something". The capacitors are often whatever they can get cheap, and may not even be connected in a functional manner. This is good, as the very inferior ones can pose a fire risk.

These days they tend to use emotional manipulation to sell these devices, claiming that some little African girl invented it, and then defied "big oil" by making it available to the public. Or it might be the kid that invented it at MIT and has made it available to the world. The unscrupulous marketers often steal images and video footage and repurpose it by dubbing their own story over the top.

Many people who buy these will manage to convince themselves that the device is making a huge difference to their electricity bill. But any reduction is usually due to milder weather or more proactive energy saving measures like unplugging things or turning the heating down.

If you've been scammed, then I don't recommend trying to get your money back. They are often using financial services in poorly regulated countries, and negotiating with them may result in further losses. Treat it as a lesson in being distrustful of the sob stories and hype they peddle to hook people in.

If you actually want one of these just as a "thing" then you can buy them very cheaply from Chinese ecommerce sites. AliExpress has lots of different styles:
https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesal...


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