FTC Goes After Diet Supplement Pushers

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Ultralife Fitness, Pure Health Labs, Ultra Burn and other sneaks cheat the public with bogus offers of "free" or "trial samples" of diet supplements, the FTC says in Federal Court. The Utah-based companies ask for a small shipping fee, then use the credit-card information they obtain to stiff victims for $80 a month for programs they never asked for, the FTC says.

All the defendants are based in South Jordan, Utah. Defendants include Ultralife Fitness dba Pure Health Laboratories, Pure Health Labs and UltraBurn PM, Tru Genix Laboratories dba eFitness Clubhouse, eCurves Clubhouse, Neil Wardle, Pace Mannion, and Christopher Wardle.

The FTC says that after the defendants get ahold of a sucker through the Internet or an unsolicited phone call, they ask for $4 to $8 for shipping and handling of their "free sample," then surreptitiously enroll the victims in "hoodia" and "fitness continuity programs," and deduct $30 and $50 a month for them.

The victims learn about the charges only when they notice it on their credit-card statements, the FTC says.

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