By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
People wanting to lose weight fast who took part in an online “free trial” of acai berry pills ended up being bilked out of up to $100 million before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stepped in to put a halt to the scam.
Fox News is reporting that the FTC filed a lawsuit on Monday in an attempt to shut down a massive internet scam being run out of Phoenix-based Central Coast Nutraceuticals. A federal judge froze the company’s assets and order its executives, Graham D. Gibson, 34, and Michael A. McKenzy, 27, to stop making false claims for the products. The defendants are expected to appear in court on Friday in Chicago.
The scam involved people signing up on-line to receive a free trial of acai berry pills, and then being charged anywhere from $45 to $65 a month as pills continued to be sent in spite of their efforts to stop shipments. The charges were deducted directly from their accounts via their debit cards.
The company claimed their herbal supplements AcaiPure and Colopure could speed weight loss and prevent cancer by breaking down and removing “toxic waste matter” that was stuck in the body “for years and years.”
These claims turned out to be nothing but hype.
“Our expert tells us that these pills were nothing but a laxative,” said David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Vladeck said it might be harmful to take the pills for prolonged periods.
Acai is actually a popular beverage flavor that comes from a palm found in Central and South America.
Last year, the Better Business Bureau alerted consumers to the company’s alleged deceptive practices. At that time, defendant McKenzy told The Associated Press that the customers were to blame because they didn’t read the fine print on the company’s website when they ordered the sample product.
Customers such as Rhonda Wooten, 48, of Paxton, Illinois, lost up to $500 before she was able to stop shipments of the pills and charges to her checking account. She said she gave the company her debit card number after seeing a photo on its website of a supposed satisfied customer, who coincidentally also hailed from Paxton. In reality, Vladeck said, it was a stock photo and the company’s software had automatically inserted “Paxton” because it detected Wooten was from there.
“I’m a preschool teacher and they don’t make good money, so $200 to $500 is a lot,” Wooten said. “It could buy a lot of food for my kids and my family.”
The FTC’s investigation followed more than 2,800 similar complaints made to law enforcement and the Better Business Bureau about the company since 2007.
Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago, refused to comment on whether they planned to press criminal charges.
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