An international enterprise must stop sending unsolicited e-mail advertising human growth hormone (HGH) and weight-loss products
using the hoodia gordonii plant under a court order obtained by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
A judge in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, has ordered the group, including Spear
Systems Inc. of Wyoming and eHealthylife.com, to stop sending spam and to stop making product claims that the FTC charged
were false or unsubstantiated.
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The FTC's action was the first brought under the U.S. Safe Web Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in December 2006 to allow
for more international law enforcement cooperation when fighting spam, spyware and other Internet-based fraud.
The international enterprise, with defendants in the U.S., Canada and Australia, used spammers to drive traffic to Web sites
selling two kinds of pills. One kind, called HoodiaLife and HoodiaPlus, was supposed to contain the ingredient hoodia gordonii
and cause significant weight loss. The other, called HGHLife and HGHPlus, was supposed to be a "natural human growth hormone
enhancer" that would dramatically reverse the aging process.
The FTC's spam database received more than 175,000 spam messages sent on behalf of the operation.
A telephone number for Spear Systems was not in service Wednesday. However, eHealthylife.com was still offering HGHLife on
its Web site Wednesday. A salesman there said no one was immediately available to comment on the FTC complaint.
The defendants falsely claimed that their supposed hoodia products cause permanent, rapid and substantial weight loss, as
much as 25 pounds in a month, the FTC said.
The FTC complaint also charges that the defendants falsely claimed that their supposed HGH products would contain human growth
hormone or result in a substantial increase in the consumer's growth hormone levels. The defendants falsely claimed that their
HGH products would turn back or reverse the aging process, including reducing cellulite, improving hearing and vision, causing
new hair growth, improving emotional stability, increasing muscle mass, and causing fat and weight loss.
The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.
