The FTC touted a $478 million judgment from a federal...
The FTC touted a $478 million judgment from a federal court in California against several “get rich quick” informercial marketers including John Beck’s Free and Clear Real Estate System, John Alexander’s Real Estate Riches in 14 Days and Jeff Paul’s…
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Shortcuts to Internet Millions. “This huge judgment serves notice to anyone thinking of using phony get-rich-quick schemes to defraud customers,” Jeffrey Klurfeld, director of the FTC’s western region, said in a news release. Attorneys for the defendants either declined to comment or did not respond immediately to our query. The U.S. District Court in Los Angeles’s final order said that nearly all of the products’ customers lost money, and some lost more than $10,000 (http://xrl.us/bnmxa9). The case is likely to be appealed, said Larry Russ, counsel to Family Products, a defendant in the case. “We think the court’s assessment of the deceptive nature of the educational products was in error,” he said. “According to the FTC and the court, the average consumer that purchases a how-to product has to do as well as the testimonials, or the infomercial is considered to be deceptive,” he said. “In our view that creates a new standard in the advertising world."