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posted by chromas on Wednesday February 27 2019, @03:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the make-'em-pay dept.

The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it's settled its first action against a marketer who used fake paid reviews to boost sales of its product on Amazon.

The FTC had accused Cure Encapsulations of paying AmazonVerifiedReviews.com to write and post fake reviews to maintain an average Amazon rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars for the company's garcinia cambogia weight-loss supplement. The agency had also accused the company of making false and unsubstantiated claims, including reviews that said the product caused weight loss of two or more pounds each and "literally blocks fat from forming."

[...] Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Cure Encapsulations is barred from making claims about the health benefits of dietary supplements without supporting clinical evidence. The defendants are also required to notify its customers of the allegations against it and identify for Amazon which reviews it purchased.

A $12.8 million judgment was levied against Cure Encapsulations, but it will be suspended when the company pays $50,000 to the FTC and fulfills other tax obligations. The full amount of the judgment will be immediately due if the commission finds the company misrepresented its financial condition.


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  • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday February 27 2019, @07:50PM

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Wednesday February 27 2019, @07:50PM (#807778)

    I was thinking something similar.

    There are two companies advertising on TV where I live that I think ought to be prosecuted for misrepresentation. One is a payday loan company that has a bunch of attractive young people explaining how easy it is to get money, and "the money can be in your account the same day" but I bet none of them are actually customers. Also what is the interest rate? 25%? More?

    The other is for Pain Erazorâ„¢ whioch has no batteries or drugs and apparently uses "the bodies' natural pain defenses" of something. I'm fairly sure that's nonsense.

    Paid Amazon reviews look like business as usual to me too.

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