![]() "Even in the best cases, it doesn't compare to the amount of money that consumers actually lose on the products," Cleland said. A tally by BuzzFeed News found that those accused of making fraudulent weight-loss claims paid less than $100 million in consumer refunds and penalties this year. ![]() Despite that, companies typically can't pay the full fines demanded by the FTC as they've run out of money at that point. In the FTC's most recent consumer fraud survey, back in 2011, more consumers fell prey to fraudulent weight-loss products than any other fraud an estimated 2.15% of consumers, or 5.1 million American adults, bought and used such goods that year. "It's very lucrative for scammers.you've got an audience that is susceptible to being scammed and a fairly sophisticated group of marketers that are very adept of taking advantage of them." "In terms of advertising issues, weight loss fraud is one of the top priorities for the Federal Trade Commission," Cleland said in an interview with BuzzFeed News. The Federal Trade Commission is preparing for the annual spike in weight-loss product fraud that tends to occur this time of year, as consumers search for a "magic bullet," said Richard Cleland, assistant director for the FTC's division of advertising practices. ![]() As Americans resolve to lose weight and diet this year, scammers are at the ready to collect what amounts to hundreds of millions each year in products that swear to trim inches and cut pounds, usually without any exercise.
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