Mommy Blogger Goes After Deceptive Beauty Ads
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - It's hard not to notice when a $5 cream promises to make you look 15 years younger.
The ads online use Christie Brinkley, Dr. Oz, Ellen DeGeneres and a long list of celebrity names and faces to market a cream that promises to erase wrinkles, make you look younger and even change your life.
Janet D'Oliveira, a stay home mom, says like these celebrities her image was used to advertise skin creams but without her consent.
"It's frustrating. It's frustrating that my face is being used to scam people. It makes me feel terrible and in a weird way guilty," says D'Oliveira.
D'Oliveira is a mommy blogger. Feeling haggard she documented her before and after Botox journey on her "Janzyland" YouTube channel.
She says, a company stole her YouTube video implying her before and after results were produced by the use of its cream.
"[They] used her video for their own benefit to sell what I first thought was a skin care product and then what I realized quickly was a scam."
The skin care ads appeared on several social media sites including Facebook and Instagram. There were so many she says she couldn't report them fast enough.
"I felt this moral obligation because people were seeing my face - even though I had nothing to do with it. I just felt people should know not to send their money to this company because it was a lie," she says.
D'Oliveira says she discovered the company has a sophisticated operation. The company offers a free trial asking consumers to pay a small fee for shipping and handling for its product. But a closer look reveals every ad looks the same; same headline, same content, even the same review but promotes a different skin care product.
Janet now is on a mission, commenting on every single ad warning that she is not endorsing the product. She has even heard back from dozens of people who feel they too have been duped.
The company's questionable tactics don't end there it turns out when you agree to trial of the skin care product you are in fact agreeing to the company's terms and conditions that includes giving up your rights to a trial, class action lawsuit - enrollment in the company's "reoccurring shipment program" many people signed up but did not realize that a $4.95 trial automatically committed them to a monthly subscription - in one case for $98.79.
D'Oliveira says, "[the reviews] are all the same, I paid for the shipping and handling. Next thing I know my credit card is getting slammed with these high charges. Some of them had to pay hundreds and thousands of dollars and for some reason they're having a hard time fighting the charges."
She says she consulted with attorneys but no one was able to find the company -- they believe its operating overseas. For now she warns as many people as she can
She adds, "If you see anything online that looks too good to be true - research it. It didn't take me very long time to figure out what the real story was behind this."
CBS4 in Miami has called multiple numbers tied to the company but our reporter has not been able to reach anyone. Her research also found that customers have the option to opt out of the trial and the subscription program however it is a complicated and difficult process.
