A California company paid a $10 million fine for Internet ads about “miracle” weight loss products. A miracle, it wasn’t. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (or FTC) said the company’s products, including green coffee, did not lead, as claimed, to a “tiny belly.” Also false were the emails that linked to phony news stories about the products, the FTC said. One of the stories reported, “Oprah says it’s excellent,” the FTC said. The idea was to make people believe Oprah Winfrey was a fan of the weight loss products, the FTC said. Another story carried this headline: “Special Report: Lose 23 pounds of Belly Fat in 1 Month.” Last month, the company, Sales Slash of California, agreed to pay a $10 million fine. Most of the money will go to people who bought the company’s weight loss products, the FTC said. In 2015, the FTC said it received 3.1 million consumer complaints.
Title: Firm Fined $10 Million For Belly Fat Fraud
Content: <div id='article-page'><div id='article-content' data-media-url='//news-app-staging.s3.amazonaws.com' data-base-url='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/belly_audio.m4a' data-capture-url='//staging.analytics.lingraphica.com/events/capture_news' data-article-title='Firm Fined $10 Million For Belly Fat Fraud' data-article-id='1334'><script src='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/javascripts/getscripts.js'></script><link rel='stylesheet' href='//news-app-staging.herokuapp.com/stylesheets/article.css' type='text/css' /><div class='article'><p><span data-start-time='0' data-end-time='9563'>A California company paid a $10 million fine for Internet ads about “miracle” weight loss products.</span> <span data-start-time='9563' data-end-time='12313'>A miracle, it wasn’t.</span> <span data-start-time='12313' data-end-time='25417'>The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (or FTC) said the company’s products, including green coffee, did not lead, as claimed, to a “tiny belly.”</span> <span data-start-time='25417' data-end-time='35646'>Also false were the emails that linked to phony news stories about the products, the FTC said.</span> <span data-start-time='35646' data-end-time='42792'>One of the stories reported, “Oprah says it’s excellent,” the FTC said. </span> <span data-start-time='42792' data-end-time='52708'>The idea was to make people believe Oprah Winfrey was a fan of the weight loss products, the FTC said.</span> <span data-start-time='52708' data-end-time='62646'>Another story carried this headline: “Special Report: Lose 23 pounds of Belly Fat in 1 Month.”</span> <span data-start-time='62646' data-end-time='71771'>Last month, the company, Sales Slash of California, agreed to pay a $10 million fine. </span> <span data-start-time='71771' data-end-time='80125'>Most of the money will go to people who bought the company’s weight loss products, the FTC said.</span> <span data-start-time='80125' data-end-time='88958'>In 2015, the FTC said it received 3.1 million consumer complaints.</span> </p></div><div class='control-buttons-sticky' style='display:none;'><div class='control-buttons'><button title='Back' class='back' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Play' class='play' disabled='disabled'></button><button title='Pause' class='pause' style='display:none;'></button><button title='Forward' class='forward' disabled='disabled'></button><button class='finished-reading' style='display:none;'>Done</button></div></div></div><div id='article-media'><div id='media-image'><img src='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/belly_img.png'/></div></div><div id='question-content' style='display:none;'><div class='vocabulary_question question-container' data-question-id=5578 data-hint-location='25417' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/what_does_phony_mean.m4a'>What does phony mean?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='not true, real, or genuine'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/the_title_of_a_newspaper.m4a'><span>the title of a newspaper</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/very_small.m4a'><span>very small</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/unusual_result.m4a'><span>unusual result</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/not_true_real_or_genuine.m4a'><span>not true, real, or genuine</span></div></div></div><div class='multiple_choice_question question-container' data-question-id=5579 data-hint-location='0' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/what_product_was_the_company_falsely_advertising.m4a'>What product was the company falsely advertising?</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='weight loss products'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/smartphones.m4a'><span>smartphones</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/sports_cars.m4a'><span>sports cars</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/weight_loss_products.m4a'><span>weight loss products</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/cookware.m4a'><span>cookware</span></div></div></div><div class='sentence_completion_question question-container' data-question-id=5580 data-hint-location='80125' style='display:none;'><div class='question' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/ftc_said_it_received_31_million_consumer__blank__about_the_company.m4a'>FTC said it received 3.1 million consumer <span class='blank'>complaints</span> about the company.</div><div class='choices' data-correct-choice='complaints'><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/endorsements.m4a'><span>endorsements</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/complaints.m4a'><span>complaints</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/ratings.m4a'><span>ratings</span></div><div class='choice' data-sound-name='https://news-app-production.s3.amazonaws.com/articles/905/satisfaction.m4a'><span>satisfaction</span></div></div></div><div class='question-buttons'><button class='skip-button'></button><button class='hint-button'></button><button class='speak-button'></button></div></div></div>
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