"Quack" eBook Scam Stopped

Stephen Barrett, M.D.

A joint effort by Australian and American agencies has shut down an Internet medical eBook scam. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has obtained final orders in the Federal Court of Australia against Leanne Rita Vassallo and Aaron David Smith of Cecil Hills, New South Wales, for selling phony advice.

The ACCC charged that for over two years Vassallo and Smith operated 60 websites that offered eBooks containing claimed cures for acne, asthma, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, prostate cancer, and many other health problems,

The Web sites had similar formats. Each was dedicated to a particular medical condition and contained a letter from a person who allegedly had suffered from the condition and somehow discovered an effective home remedy. The sites also contained supposedly unsolicited email testimonials from "all over the world." The ads included the purported author's photograph and often included an address within the State of Washington. However, many of the sites identified the same pictures with different names and addresses. The Washington Attorney General's office determined that the names, addresses, main stories, and email testimonials were fictitious [2]. The reports cost either $16.97 or $24.27, depending on the product sold. Prosecutors believe that more than 60,000 customers bought books at a total cost that exceeded one million U.S. dollars.

The ACCC's experts concluded that the proposed treatments would not provide any therapeutic benefits for the health conditions. In July 2009, the ACCC obtained temporary injunctions, by consent, restraining Cassallo and Smith from continuing to sell the books and ordering them to take down the websites. Three weeks later, at the final hearing, the judge concluded that the testimonials were bogus and ruled that the pair had engaged in false, misleading, and deceptive conduct. Describing them as "purveyors of quack medical advice and of quack medicine," he enjoined the pair from making the same or similar representations in the future and ordered them to pay the ACCC's investigative costs [2].

The scam was brought to the ACCC's attention by the Washington State Attorney General's Department, which filed its own complaint in Washington's King County Court and then helped the ACCC investigate [3].

References

International cooperation closes Internet health cure scam. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
News release #205/09, Aug 25, 2009.
Order. Federal Court of Australia, New South Wales District Court, Case No (P)NSD756/2009, Aug 24, 2009.
Complaint for injunctive relief under the Consumer Protection Act. State of Washington v. Leanne Vassallo and Aaron Smith. Kings County Superior Court, filed July 30, 2009.

This article was posted on August 27, 2009.