FTC Cracks Down on Diet Spammers

The Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on spammers hawking weight loss and anti-aging products via 175K junk messages, Information Week reports, as the FTC chair announced the filing of civil complaints in Australia, Canada, and the United States. It's the first action brought by the agency under the Safe Web Act, passed by Congress last year to combat spam.

The FTC complaints allege that the individuals behind two companies, Spear Systems, Inc. and eHealthylife.com, falsely claimed that their "hoodia" products promoted rapid weight loss, and that their human growth hormone (HGH) products helped reverse the effects of aging. The FTC charges that the defendants have offered no evidence to substantiate their claims. (More FTC stories.)