Tell Consumer Reports If You've Seen a Product With a Bogus Coronavirus Claim
The FDA has issued warnings to several companies selling essential oils or products claimed to combat COVID-19
The convicted fraudster televangelist selling a “Silver Solution” that was claimed to destroy the coronavirus was certainly jarring. But what really got me was the listing on Amazon offering a basic brimmed hat with a piece of plastic to cover your face—or, as the listing put it, “Anti-COVID-19 All-Purpose Face Shield”—for a sum of $40. (At least it came with free shipping.)
The U.S. is currently gripped by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and hucksters galore are doing whatever they can to sling bogus products touting unbelievable claims to combat the virus and the disease it causes, COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission have already targeted several companies for doing so—including that televangelist, Jim Bakker, and another who’d marketed products through the plainly named URL coronavirusdefense.com.
But the problem isn’t going away anytime soon. On Tuesday, the National Enquirer drew outrage across social media after a reporter for The New York Times published a photo on social media of the tabloid’s latest cover. It carried this claim: “Coronavirus Cures Finally Found!”
