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Rebill Scams and Fake Testimonials have become synonymous with Acai Berry weight loss products and finally the FTC has taken action.

It’s about high time the FTC finally did something about all the blatantly false advertising generated by LeanSpa LLC and their affiliates in conjunction with their Acai Berry weight loss products.

You know the ads I’m talking about. They’re all over sites like Facebook with geo-targeted ad copy that says something like “Boca Raton Woman Loses 30 Pounds in 2 Weeks”

If you click the link, you end up at a website that looks like a local newspaper or TV news station site. The landing pages use an ip database to detect the visitor location and display phony testimonials as if they were given by someone in the same city.

Sometimes the landing pages even include spoofed logos to reputable news outlets like CNN, MSNBC and others to create a false sense of validity in potential victims.

Visitors who are gullible enough to fall for the fake testimonials and give their credit card for a “free trial offer” often find themselves in a never ending nightmare of credit card charges.

According to the Clikz article FTC Goes After Acai Berry Seller That Used Fake News Sites, a Connecticut based company, LeanSpa LLC, has landed in hot water with the FTC for their shady marketing practices.

The Federal Trade Commission has filed a complaint with the State of Connecticut to stop LeanSpa LLC, an Orange, Conn.-based weight loss company that has allegedly used fake news websites from affiliate marketers to promote its products. The FTC also says the company made deceptive claims and told consumers they could receive free trials of acai berry and colon cleanse products. The FTC alleges many consumers ended up paying $79.99 for the trial and were roped into recurring monthly shipments of products that were difficult to cancel. The defendants netted more than $25 million from U.S. consumers as a result, the FTC says.

Companies like LeanSpa LLC give a bad name to internet marketing and make consumers skeptical about purchasing goods or services over the internet.

Affiliates who actively promote these shady offers are highly unethical and fall into the lowest eschelon of internet marketing. In my opinion, the affiliates making money promoting these scams deserve to be held as accountable as LeanSpa LLC for their role in the deception.

Like the old saying goes, one bad apple spoils the whole bunch and bad business hurts everyone. Hopefully the FTC will slam the door on these type of internet marketers and make an example of them so others will think twice before copying these shameful tactics.