Acai Scammers Fined $1.5 Million

Posted By elissa on Jan 12, 2012 | 1 comment

Last year, I made note of a court order suspending sales of certain acai berry supplement products. The defendants were making over-the-top, unproven weight loss and “detox” claims, offering phony “free trials,”  and – of course – adding unauthorized charges to customers’ credit cards.

In other words, it was one of those acai berry scam operations we all know and loathe.

At any rate, the case has now been settled. The folks in charge of “Central Coast Pharmaceuticals” et al., will be liquidating assets to pay a $1.5 million fine. In addition, the settlement also prohibits the defendants from…

• making deceptive statements that there is no cost for a trial purchase; that all consumers who request full refunds will get them; that celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Rachael Ray endorse their products; that consumer testimonials reflect typical consumer experiences; about the total amount consumers will pay; or about any other material fact regarding any goods or services sold by the defendants;
• failing to make adequate disclosures about the material terms and conditions of any offer;
• charging consumers’ credit cards, or debiting their bank accounts without their consent;
• making any claim that a product can diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent any disease, including cancer, unless the claim is approved by the Food and Drug Administration;
• making any claim that a product can cause weight loss, unless the claim is supported by two well-controlled human clinical studies;
• making claims about the health benefits of any supplement, food, or drug without competent and reliable scientific evidence, and misrepresenting any tests or studies;
• making deceptive or false statements or failing to disclose material facts, to a payment processor or financial institution; and
• violating the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and Regulation E.

Personally, I think these crooks are getting off cheap… they scammed consumers to the tune of $80 million! Still, it’s some justice – which is better than none.