August 6, 2003
Two companies who marketed and sold bogus cell phone "radiation protection" patches have settled Federal Trade Commission charges that they violated federal laws by making false and misleading claims about their products.
Using television and Internet advertising, Safety Cell, Inc. and Rhino International, Inc. deceptively indicated that their patches, designed to fit over the earpiece of any cell phone, could block a substantial amount of radiation and other electromagnetic energy emitted by cellular telephones, thereby reducing consumers exposure to this radiation.
Under separate settlements, both sets of defendants are required to have adequate scientific evidence to substantiate claims about the performance, efficacy, or benefit of any good or service. The settlement in Rhino requires them to pay $342,665 in redress to consumers who purchased Rhinos WaveScrambler patch.
Rhino, of Sag Harbor, NY, marketed and sold the WaveScrambler patch, claiming that their product could block 99 percent of electromagnetic waves emitted by cellular phones and cordless phones.
Safety Cell, of Brooklyn, NY, marketed the WaveGuard cell phone shield. The FTC alleged that the defendants claimed that their WaveGuard patch blocked most of the electromagnetic energy emitted from cell phones.
