Feds: Don’t get scammed by fake Ebola cures

Federal regulators are warning the public about scammers trying to profit off public concern about Ebola.

Some “scam artists” have been using the Internet to advertise that their special silver, oil or other products can treat Ebola, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned on Thursday, when in fact the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said there is no real cure for the virus.

{mosads}“Although there are experimental Ebola vaccines and treatments under development, these are in the early stages of product development, have not yet been fully tested for safety or effectiveness, and the supply is very limited,” FTC consumer education specialist Colleen Tressler wrote in a blog post.

“There are no approved vaccines, drugs, or products specifically for Ebola available for purchase online or in stores,” she added.

Last month, for instance, the FTC and FDA sent a warning to the National Solutions Foundation, a New Jersey-based online store that claimed its Nano Silver product could “kill every pathogen against which it has been tested, worldwide, without exception.” 

“[T]here is a cure, treatment and prevention for Ebola virus,” the company falsely claimed on its website.

American fears about the virus have grown in recent days and weeks, as a handful of people in the U.S. have been found to be infected with the virus. That’s created a prime opportunity for scammers, the FTC warned.

Many people have called for the Obama administration to ban or place new limits on flights from countries with a large numbers of the cases.