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On June 24, 1999, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced a crackdown on fraudsters who market phony remedies and cures on the Internet. Often, these fake products are claimed to cure cancer, AIDES, arthritis and many other terminal or chronic conditions.
While healthy folks might wonder at how anyone could purchase products from unknown individuals making such unbelievable claims, desperate people who suffer from such conditions are understandably often willing to try anything. And they are bilked out of millions by these fraudsters.
While some vitamins and minerals can certainly improve immunity from a variety of ailments, there are no secret miracle cures that can be found on the Internet, and no where else. Holistic and folk medicine cures, too, can be beneficial, but legitimate vendors of these products and information do not make the unqualified "miracle cure" claims that these scam artists do.
Folks who send in their money for these products do not become cured of their ailments, but simply provide a good income to the scam artists.
We recommend that any so-called cures touted on the Internet--particularly high-priced items that sound too good to be true--should be considered frauds unless validated by independent research conducted by the targets of the ads.
The World Wide Web provides easy access to a variety of authentic medical information from government and medical facilities. The (U.S.) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia is another good source to check on scams of this sort. We also recommend that questionable ads of this sort be brought to the attention of the FTC by U.S. surfers.
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