FTC obtains court orders against two acne-fighting apps
Acne-fighting app — There are smartphone applications for just about everything, but one company went too far by claiming its app could clear up acne, the Federal Trade Commission said. The agency obtained a court order prohibiting AcneApp and AcnePwner from making acne-treatment claims. The apps were sold on Apple’s iTunes store and the Android Market and claimed to treat acne with colored lights emitted from smartphones. The app sold for $1.99 on iTunes and 99 cents on the Android marketplace, the FTC said. Nearly 15,000 people paid for the app. Three people who marketed the apps settled an FTC lawsuit by agreeing to no longer market the products.
StubHub email – Watch out for an email scam that looks like it came from the StubHub ticket site saying an order has been approved for tickets to a sporting event. If the recipient, who never placed the order, clicks on links in the message to sign onto his or her account, it could give the scammers access to the victim’s user name, passwords and credit card information, the Better Business Bureau said in a recent bulletin. Those who believe they fell victim to this scam should immediately change their StubHub passwords, alert credit reporting agencies and contact StubHub at safety@stubhub.com.
Real estate loans – A West Covina woman has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for running a fraudulent investment scheme that took in about $6.9 million from more than 150 victims. In addition to the prison term, Guadalupe Valencia was ordered to repay $5.2 million to victims. Valencia had pleaded guilty in December to mail fraud, wire fraud and tax fraud. Prosecutors said Valencia ran her scheme out of the Downey offices of Real Estate & Loan Consultants and R.E. Equity Group Inc. from 2001 to 2009. She told investors that she would use their money to make real estate loans and loans to small businesses. But instead of making the investments, she used the money to make payments to early investors, prosecutors said.
