scam-alert-photo(mgnonline.com)

The Federal Trade Commission is warning consumers to beware of scammers who are taking advantage of fears surrounding the coronavirus to rip off consumers with unproven claims of cures and treatments.

According to the FTC, the scammers are setting up fake websites to sell bogus products and using fake emails, texts and social media posts as a ruse to take your money and get your personal information.

FTC and U.S. Food and Drug Administration have just recently sent out seven warning letters to companies allegedly selling unsupported claims about their ability to treat coronavirus (COVID-19).

The warning letters are the first issued by the agencies alleging unapproved and/or unsupported claims that products can treat or prevent coronavirus.

The agencies sent the letters to the following companies: 1) Vital Silver, 2) Quinessence Aromatherapy Lt., 3) N-ergetics, 4) GuruNanda, LLC 5) Vivify Holistic Clinic, 6) Herbal Amy LLC, and 7) The Jim Bakker Show.

The recipients are companies that advertise products — including teas, essential oils and colloidal silver — as able to treat or prevent coronavirus.

“There already is a high level of anxiety over potential spread of coronavirus,” said FTC Chairman Joe Simons. “What we don’t need in this situation are companies preying on consumers by promoting products with fraudulent prevention and treatment claims. These warning letters are just the first step. We’re prepared to take enforcement actions against companies that continue to market this type of scam.”

FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen M. Hahn said, “The FDA considers the sale and promotion of fraudulent COVID-19 products to be a threat to the public health. We have an aggressive surveillance program that routinely monitors online sources for health fraud products, especially during a significant public health issue such as this one. The FDA’s laws are designed to protect the public health by ensuring, among other things, that drugs are safe and effective for their intended uses.”

The FTC recently issued a new consumer blog post with information about how to identify and avoid coronavirus-related scams.

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{{tncms-inline content=”<p><span>&lsquo;Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.&rsquo;</span><br /><span>&mdash; Marthe Troly-Curtin</span></p>” id=”9bec753b-3739-4273-9df9-b31ff2fc5b58″ style-type=”quote” title=”Pull Quote” type=”relcontent”}}

‘Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.’

— Marthe Troly-Curtin