More than 1.6 million Pennsylvanians are out of work right now.
Some of those people may be looking for a side job now, to bring in some extra income.
A federal agency has a warning for some of those companies that claim you can make money quickly.
The Federal Trade Commission has now sent 10 warning letters to multi-level marketing companies.
The FTC wants those companies to remove claims about their products' ability to treat or prevent coronavirus or about the earnings people who have recently lost income can make and in some cases, both.
Here is a look at one of the letters to the company doTerra, which is a multi-level marketing company that sells essential oils.
The FTC claims a representative from the company claims "This is to inform us all that the pH for coronavirus varies from 5.5 to 8.5... All we need to do, to beat coronavirus, we need to take more of an alkaline foods that are above the above pH level of the Virus."
According to the Food and Drug Administration, there currently are no products that are scientifically proven to treat or prevent the virus.
On doTerra's website, you'll now find this, "doTERRA does not claim that its products diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease."
The FTC also sent a letter to Arbonne after seeing a post that read "...Living in quarantine and where 14 million people applied for unemployment just last week ... I`ll stick with the opportunity to change people`s lives ... turn a small investment into six figures."
Arbonne has since responded, posting on its website that it is now taking swift action related to this very serious matter.
The FTC suggests everyone do research on a company to make sure you're not wasting your time or money.
Here are all of the companies that were sent letters from the FTC:
Both Health and Earnings Claims:
- doTERRA International, LLC: "doTERRA received a letter from the FTC on Friday, April 24th, and we responded on Monday, April 27, by detailing how we have addressed the agency’s concerns and outlining our ongoing, extensive compliance efforts. doTERRA is steadfast in our efforts and resolve to comply with relevant laws and regulations and will continue to vigorously hold our salespersons in compliance with these laws."
- Pruvit Ventures, Inc. (FOX43 reached out, no response.)
- Total Life Changes, LLC (FOX43 reached out, no response.)
- Tranont (FOX43 reached out, no response.)
- Modere, Inc. (FOX43 reached out, no response.)
- Arbonne International, LLC: response can be read here.
Earnings Claims:
- IDLife, LLC (FOX43 reached out, no response.)
- It Works Marketing, Inc. (FOX43 reached out, no response.)
- Rodan & Fields, LLC: "As a part of our corporate responsibility, Rodan + Fields takes seriously the importance of adhering to and ensuring our Consultant Community follows all FTC guidelines and best practices. Rodan + Fields has strict policies concerning earnings and product claims and does not tolerate non-compliant or misleading income claims, and we routinely initiate enforcement action against such claims.
We place great importance on educating 300,000+ Independent Consultants about the importance of complying with product and income claims and have a dedicated team and monitoring system in place to identify and correct non-compliant claims. We transparently share our Income Disclosure Statement on our website, and we make no claims that our product treats or cures COVID-19 symptoms. Rodan + Fields is committed to following the FTC’s best practices around this topic and will continue to reinforce these guidelines and explore how we can continue to best educate and train Consultants surrounding this important topic."
Health Claims:
- Zurvita, Inc. (FOX43 reached out, no response.)