US FTC stops internet marketers from giving deceptive free trial offers
US FTC stops internet marketers from giving deceptive free trial offers
A federal district court has granted the Federal Trade Commission’s request to stop a group of San Diego-based Internet marketers from deceptively advertising free trial offers and not only charging consumers full-price for the trial product but also enrolling them in expensive, ongoing continuity plans without their knowledge or consent. The court order announced today temporarily halts the operation, freezes its assets, and appoints a temporary receiver over the business.
According to the FTC’s complaint, the defendants market and sell a variety of products online, including skin creams, electronic cigarettes, and dietary supplements. Advertising through third-party websites, blog posts, and surveys, the defendants allegedly offer consumers “RISK FREE” trials of products such as “Wrinkle Rewind,” “Erase Repair H/A,” “Pro Vapor,” “Cerebral X,” “Test X Core,” and “Garcinia Clean XT.”
In addition, the FTC alleges the defendants use deceptive order confirmation pages to trick consumers into ordering additional products, for which the defendants similarly charge consumers full price and enroll them in negative-option plans. The defendants then make it difficult to cancel the continuity plan, stop or avoid the recurring charges, or obtain a refund.
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Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It’s not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. Neither the author nor FTC Guardian, Inc. is endorsed by the Federal Trade Commission.
