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Posts about Advertising claims
FTC goes after FTC impersonator
Posted by: Jane Friedmann Updated: December 3, 2012 - 5:34 PM
On Friday, a New York district judge ordered a robocalling operation that was impersonating the Federal Trade Commission to cease its illegal and deceptive practices.
The Cuban Exchange, Inc., and its owner Suhaylee Rivera made prerecorded phone calls that promised help with expediting FTC refunds that “you may not even know were owed to you,” the FTC alleged. Consumers were directed to a website, ftcrefund.com, where they were told to enter bank information.
“To anyone hell-bent on breaking the law by making illegal robocalls, transmitting phony Caller ID information, or impersonating a federal agency, we have two words for you: Stop now. The real Federal Trade Commission will come after you,” the FTC warned.
www.credisure.net is still available online and is allegedly another website operated by Suhaylee Rivera. The judge ordered the website taken down.
Online companies misled consumers
Posted by: Jane Friedmann Updated: September 17, 2012 - 5:10 PMTwo online companies that offer placement assistance to people in need of long-term institutional care agreed to not misrepresent their services in the future, the Federal Trade Commission said this week.
The FTC alleged that CarePatrol Inc. , an Arizona company, and ABCSP Inc., doing business as Always Best Care, “misled customers to think that they had researched the facilities and had detailed knowledge about them.”
One claim made by ABCSP, a California company that offered placements nationwide, stated: “Our Care Coordinators are local and have personally viewed virtually all of the assisted living communities in your area,” the FTC said.
There are at least 39,000 assisted living facilities in the United States, the FTC said.
FTC: Bed-bug spray claims are deceptive
Posted by: Jane Friedmann Updated: September 10, 2012 - 5:11 PMA Florida company that sold a bed-bug control product through chain stores has agreed to refrain from making product claims that it can’t back up with scientific evidence, according to a Federal Trade Commission statement Monday.
The FTC alleged that RMB Group, LLC and its officers Howard and Bruce Brenner failed to back up “overhyped claims” that their product “Rest Easy,” a liquid containing cinnamon, lemongrass, peppermint and clove oils, was effective in killing and repelling bed bugs.
Rest Easy was sold at retail chains such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Walgreens and Big Lots.
The defendants admitted no wrong-doing. The settlement, awaiting court approval, imposes a $264,976 judgment, which is suspended “because of the defendants’ inability to pay.”
FTC: Review energy-savings claims
Posted by: Jane Friedmann Updated: September 4, 2012 - 10:16 AMFifteen window and glass manufacturers were told in August to review their marketing material for possible violations of the FTC Act, which prohibits unsubstantiated energy-savings claims, the FTC said.
The businesses are making claims similar to those made by five replacement-windows businesses that settled with the commission this year over their allegedly “exaggerated and unsupported claims” of energy-efficiency and energy-cost savings, the FTC said.
Cardinal Glass Industries in Eden Prairie, which claims that use of its window glass “can reduce your energy bills by one-third,” has the data to prove its claims, according to Cardinal vice president Bowie Neumayer.
“We’ll review what we do state and send in the data to back it up,” Neumayer said.
Gift-card scam comes by phone, text, mail
Posted by: Jane Friedmann Updated: June 25, 2012 - 5:52 PMIf you are offered a “free” gift card or gas card by phone, text or mail, check your scam radar. You should notice a large blip zeroing in on your wallet, according to the Minnesota attorney general’s office.
Sometimes the con artist claims the gift card is offered on behalf of a major company. Other times the card is explained as compensation for filling out a survey.
Either way the scammer asks for your credit card number in order to charge a minimal handling fee of a couple of dollars.
People taken in by this tactic report finding “unwanted charges on their card for subscriptions, warranties and all sorts of other products they do not want,” the office said. “The one thing the consumers do not get are the gift cards that were promised.”
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