WASHINGTON, D.C.

Alleging violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act and CAN-SPAM Act, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently filed suit against two marketers in Florida federal court.

FTC alleges that Tachht, Inc., and Teqqi, LLC paid to send emails appearing to be from family members or friends in order to get consumers to visit websites promoting weight-loss products such as Original White Kidney Bean and Original Pure Forskolin.

The marketers’ sites were often deceptively styled to look like news sites, FTC further charged, and offered false and unsubstantiated claims, fake testimonials, and additional misrepresentations. The complaints say that the defendants paid affiliate marketers a commission for each consumer who clicked through and made a purchase.

“These defendants used a variety of deceptive tactics to sell their bogus diet pills,” said  Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement. “But we have a clear message for them—we want their illegal practices to stop, and we want to give people back the money they took.”