LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Following an agreement with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office, two related Rockford-area businesses have agreed to stop marketing and selling phony products they claimed would help protect people from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Previously, Frequency Apps Corp. and Biores Technologies Inc. were accused of selling a phony “coronavirus defender patch” that would “help aid the immune system to defend itself against exposure to the virus,” and “can help lessen the effect of the virus if you already have” it.
Since then, the companies have signed an assurance of voluntary compliance (AVC) document and agreed not to market or sell the “Coronavirus Defender” patch. Michigan law allows matters like these to be settled without litigation.
Under the agreement, the companies will cease and desist in engaging in any unfair and deceptive business practices, including offering for sale any product purportedly for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19.
Both companies say they never sold any of the patches; however, they are required under the agreement to pay the State $1,000 for its enforcement efforts by May 1.
They also have to pay $1,000 for any consumer who produces proof by Dec. 31 that they purchased one of the patches – with half of that money going to the consumer and the other half to the State.
The patch was priced at $49.99, but the companies stated that consumers could receive a 30-day supply of the patch for free when buying a 45-day supply of any patches the companies sell.
“Deceitful business practices in any environment are unacceptable, but they carry a heavier stench of impropriety during a public health emergency like what Michigan is experiencing now,” Nessel said. “I’m proud of the work my Corporate Oversight Division has accomplished in bringing this matter to a close and stopping another bad actor from profiting on the fears of hardworking Michiganders.”
The companies were likely in violation of the MCPA because they were:
- Representing that goods or services have sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits or quantities that they do not have, or that a person has sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation or connection that he or she does not have.
- Failing to reveal a material fact, the omission of which tends to mislead or deceive the consumer, and which fact could not reasonably be known by the consumer.
- Causing coercion and duress as the result of the time and nature of a sales presentation.
- Making a representation of fact or statement of fact material to the transaction such that a person reasonably believes the represented or suggested state of affairs to be other than it actually is.
As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, the Attorney General’s office has received 3,582 price-gouging complaints.
Consumers can file a complaint online or by calling the Consumer Protection tip line, 877-765-8388. Hours of operation are between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
