Consumer Fraud Archive

UK Watchdog Slams Special K Calorie Count, Bans Ads

July 10th, 2012. By AbiK

You know that Special K Challenge? That’s the one where you eat a Special K breakfast and lunch, and then have a ‘sensible meal’ for dinner—along with whatever fruits and vegetables you want, and the beverages you ‘normally’ have. And you’re supposed to lose weight…and fit into those jeans you’ve long since busted out of.

A twice-a-day Special K diet may help you shed some pounds, but the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over in the UK has taken issue with some of Kellogg’s Special K advertising. It seems that some of the Special K advertising has promoted the breakfast cereal as adding only  114 calories per serving to a daily diet—why, that’s a meal with just a few teeny calories over a “100-calorie” snack pack!

Surely, you can’t go wrong on your diet with that.

But, the UK ad watchdog has seen something wrong how the calories are counted in the Special K ads: where’s the milk? And that’s led to a false advertising slap on the wrist.

Seems a number of Brits—and, of course, Americans—eat their cereal with milk. And as such, the UK Special K ads showed women preparing their cereal breakfast by pouring milk into it. Those aforementioned 114 calories don’t account for the milk. And if  you add the milk back into the equation, that can boost the calorie count up to anywhere between 200 and 236 calories.

According to a recent report in the Daily Mail (7/4/12), Kellogg’s responded to a complaint the ASA received by stating that the company left out the milk calories because “many customers eat the cereal dry, or with orange juice or yogurt.”

That response, apparently, did not measure up enough for the ASA. The Special K ads have been banned.

Tags: Advertising Standards Authority, Consumer Fraud, false advertising, Kellogg's, Special K, Special K Diet, UK
Posted in Consumer Fraud | 1 Comment »

Gas & Electric Bills Paid by President Obama? (Scam Alert)

June 30th, 2012. By AbiK

Heard there’s a new federal program that’ll pay your utility bills? Well, hundreds of utility customers in New York City and undoubtedly thousands more across the nation have been receiving phone calls and fliers—some even text messages—claiming that President Obama will pick up the tab on their utility bills. Apparently he’ll do this by giving customers credits or by actually paying the utility bill.

Talk about spirit of generosity coming off of that Obamacare win! (“win” being relative to which side of the political fence you’re on…)

Unfortunately, it’s not true.

No, President Obama is not offering to pay your utility bills. Nor are the legislative or judicial branches of our government. It’s a utilities scam and you, dear citizen, will have to retain the glorious honor of paying your bill.

Here’s how the ‘Obama Pays Your Utility Bill” scam works:

Utilities customers are contacted by the scammer. They’re told that President Obama is offering to pay their utility bills as part of a new federal program.

To participate, customers are told all they have to do is provide their social security and band routing numbers. The scammer then provides a fake bank routing number that will purportedly be used to pay their utility bills.

Needless to say, there is no bank account with any money that will pay the utility bill.

And guess who’s credit is affected when the utility bills are late or unpaid? The customer.

Meanwhile, the scammer has the information he needs to drain your real bank account and then some.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) provides the following tips to avoid falling for the utility bill payment scam:

Tags: BBB, Better Business Bureau, President Obama, Scammer, Utility Bill, Utility Bill Scam
Posted in Consumer Fraud, Emerging Issues, Scam | No Comments »

Top 10 Lawyer Interviews of the Month (May 2012)

June 29th, 2012. By AbiK

LawyersandSettlements.com publishes hundreds of lawyer interviews each year on the latest legal issues—lawsuits, mass torts, class actions, settlements—that our readers are most interested in. The attorneys—and expert witnesses—our journalists’ interviews provide a birds-eye view into the cases we report on.

Here are the top 10 attorney interviews that readers clicked during the month of May, 2012 (in reverse order):

10. Attorney Tim McCarthy, from McCarthy Law Group, on the consumer fraud class action lawsuit over Starbuck’s quitting its Tassimo coffee maker deal with Kraft Foods for one with Keurig.

9. Attorney Barry Kramer, on patients who have either paid, or have been billed, excessive emergency room charges.

8. Attorney Andy Hollis of Hollis, Wright, and Couch, P.C., on the case against ADHD drug Adderall.

7. Attorney Mark Thierman, on filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of Las Vegas limousine drivers against Bell Trans, Nevada’s largest limousine company, alleging failure to pay minimum wage and overtime.

6. Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik, on Bayer being in the process of settling certain Yasmin, Yaz and Ocella blood clot lawsuits.

5. Medical consultant and analyst Lana Keeton, on the dangers of synthetic transvaginal mesh and transvaginal sling for Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) and/or Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI).

4. Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik, on the Yaz and Yasmin bellwether trials. (See more info on bellwether trials)

3. Attorney Leonard Emma of The Law Office of Randall Crane, on California labor—what “independent contractor” means and employee misclassifications.

2. California Labor Attorney Randall Crane answers the question: “Can I be Fired if I’m Disabled?“

1. California Employee Attorney Donna M. Ballman, P.A., on bullying and harassment on the job.

Tags: Adderall, California Labor, Emergency Room Overcharge, Lawyer Interviews, Overtime Pay, Transvaginal Mesh, Yaz
Posted in Consumer Fraud, Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues, Employment, lawsuits, Lawyers | No Comments »

Oscillo Flu Relief Settlement Preliminary Approval: Here’s What To Do

May 26th, 2012. By AbiK

Remember this one? The Oscillo Flu Relief false advertising class action? Or, for those of you who can pronounce it, the Oscillococcinum class action lawsuit…which basically alleged that a couple of homeopathic ingredients and sugar may not actually do a blessed thing (expect perhaps a placebo effect) on curing or diminishing your flu symptoms.

Well, the class action lawsuit was actually against Boiron and it covered more than Oscillo. Now, it’s got a preliminary approval on its settlement. So here we go with the settlement details…

Am I part of the Oscillo Flu Relief Class Action Settlement?

You are if you purchased Oscillococcinum, Children’s Oscillococcinum, Arnicare, Quietude, Camilia, Coldcalm and ‘other products manufactured by Boiron’ between Jan. 1, 2000 and the present. You’re NOT a part of the class for this settlement if you were a California resident whose only purchase of a Boiron product was of Children’s Coldcalm in California after August 31, 2006.

What do I get as part of the Oscillo Flu Relief Class Action Settlement?

As with all class action settlements, the amount each class member receives will be contingent on how many claimants (ie, class members) submit a claim form. However, class members who file timely and valid claims (see below) are eligible to receive up to $100.00 per household.

For this settlement, a settlement fund of $5 million is being set up to pay claims to eligible Class Members, attorneys’ fees and costs, and the notice and claims administration costs. Boiron (the company that makes Oscillo) is also agreeing to make certain changes to the manner in which it advertises the products involved in the class action lawsuit.

What do I have to do now?

Here are your options to…

Submit a Claim: Do not submit a claim here at LawyersandSettlements.com. You can submit your Oscillo claim form at the claims administrator’s website here: http://www.gilardi.com/boironsettlement/FileClaim.

Otherwise, you will need to send in a completed claim form and, if available, proof of purchase of the applicable Boiron products you’ve purchased to the Claims Administrator (address shown below). Your claim must be postmarked no later than 45 days after the date the Court enters the Judgment.

The Court will hold a hearing on August 13, 2012 at 2:30 p.m. at the federal courthouse at 940 Front Street, Courtroom 11, San Diego, CA 92101, to consider final approval of the Boiron settlement, including payment of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs to Class Counsel related to obtaining the settlement relief, an incentive award to each of the named Plaintiffs, and related issues.

Object to the Settlement: If you want to object to the Oscillo settlement you have to file a written statement with the Court and serve a copy on Class Counsel, Counsel for Defendants and the Claims Administrator, postmarked by July 14, 2012. Instructions for how to object are explained in the detailed notice at www.gilardi.com/boironsettlement.

Exclude yourself from the Settlement: If you do not want to be bound by the settlement, you must send a letter to the Claims Administrator at the address below requesting to be excluded. The letter must be postmarked by July 14, 2012. If you exclude yourself, you cannot receive a benefit from this settlement, but you can sue the manufacturer of the Products for the claims alleged in this lawsuit. If you do not exclude yourself from the settlement or do nothing, you will be bound by the Court’s decisions.

For more information and to obtain a detailed notice, claim form, list of Products, or other documents, visit www.gilardi.com/boironsettlement or call, toll-free, 877-256-3879, or write to Boiron Claims Administrator, P.O. Box 8060, San Rafael, CA 94912-8060.

Tags: Boiron, Class Action Lawsuit, Consumer Fraud, false advertising, Homeopathic remedy, Oscillo Flu Relief Settlement
Posted in Class Action, Consumer Fraud, Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues, Settlement | No Comments »

POM Juice Misleads Again with “Doctored” Ads

May 25th, 2012. By AbiK

Unfortunately, advertising isn’t quite held to the same ethical bar that journalism (usually) is. There’s a careful and deliberate selection of each and every word in an ad—and you’re delusional if you think otherwise. But the folks over at POM Wonderful pomegranate juice have taken their selectivity a bit far this week in rolling out an ad campaign that serves as their rebuttal of sorts to the false advertising ruling made by Judge D. Michael Chappell.

Judge Chappell’s ruling was in response to an FTC complaint regarding the alleged health claims that POM was making about the popular juice. The bottom line? POM was found to have insufficient evidence to support its claims that its pomegranate juice reduced the risk of heart disease—as well as prostate cancer (and even impotence—gee, maybe they should’ve teamed up with Merck to help Propecia victims overcome ED while they were at it). The judge also issued a cease-and-desist order that forbids POM from making such claims for 20 years.

So what does POM do? In true catfight fashion, they stoop to childlike tactics and run some ads that use pull-quotes from the judge’s ruling—out of context. For example, one ad states (from the ruling) that, “Competent and reliable scientific evidence supports the conclusion that the consumption of pomegranate juice and pomegranate extract supports prostate health, including by prolonging PSA doubling time in men with rising PSA after primary treatment for prostate cancer”

But it cuts off there without the following statement: “However, the greater weight of the persuasive expert testimony shows that the evidence relied upon by the respondents is not adequate to substantiate claims that POM products treat, prevent or reduce the risk of prostate cancer or that they are clinically proven to do so.”

It’s an interesting ‘rebuttal’ as, without clinical studies supporting the health claims—studies that would stand up in a court of law, that is—the ads POM is running could actually backfire; after all, rather than just go quietly and not draw further attention to the ruling, now the media will be all over the ads (as we are). And without the ‘scientific proof’ it certainly starts to become transparent that this may well be more about sales and revenue impact than any grand gesture to promote the curative benefits of some medicinal elixir.

Well, as they say, you be the judge—and let us know what you think.

Tags: Consumer Fraud, false advertising, FTC, Judge D Michael Chappell, POM pomegranate juice, POM Wonderful
Posted in Complaints/Comments, Consumer Fraud, Emerging Issues, lawsuits, Personal Injury | No Comments »