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Hoodia Spammers Ordered to Pay $2.5 Million

Company sold hoodia and HGH products

February 6, 2008

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Sili Neutraceuticals, LLC and Brian McDaid will pay more than $2.5 million for making false advertising claims and sending illegal e-mail messages in violation of the FTC Act and the CAN-SPAM Act.

U.S. District Court Judge David H. Coar ordered the company and McDaid to stop misrepresenting any products or services, including hoodia -- or human growth hormone-related (HGH) products -- and stop sending illegal spam. The court also entered a judgment against the defendants in the amount of $2,569,851.77.

In August 2007, the FTC charged the defendants with CAN-SPAM violations and making false and unsubstantiated claims about hoodia weight-loss products and HGH anti-aging products, and a district court judge ordered a freeze of their assets and a halt to the e-mails and product claims.

Judge Coar found that the defendants violated the FTC Act by falsely claiming that the hoodia products cause rapid and substantial and permanent weight loss, and that the HGH products contain human growth hormone and/or cause a clinically meaningful increase in growth hormone levels and/or will turn back or reverse the aging process.

The CAN-SPAM Act violations involved sending commercial e-mail messages that have misleading subject headings, and that fail to provide clear and conspicuous notice of the opportunity to decline to receive further spam from the sender, and/or a functioning return e-mail address, and the senders’ valid physical postal address.

According to the FTC’s complaint, the spam drove traffic to the defendants’ Web sites, which sold the products.

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