Stealth Media, which is owned and operated by John Monarch along with his partner Shaun Groomes, solicits affiliate marketers to promote free trials like HNB for a “bounty.” The bounty is often referred to as the CPA, or cost per acquisition.
For example, Stealth Media offered affiliates $39 for every initial credit card acquired from a consumer for Advanced Pure Garcinia and $36 for an additional negative option enrollment in the Advanced Pure Cleanse program.
Many of the free trials above make claims that consumers will “burn more fat” or “prevent fat storage.” Are these claims false and purposely made to deceive consumers into enrolling in an autobill program, or are these legitimate weight loss programs?
Vee Daniel of the BBB confirmed that FTC Investigator Cynthia Lebowitz interviewed Monarch along with several of his employees and has requested information on a number of these free trial programs that many consumers claim are scams. Ms. Daniel noted that Monarch was not forthcoming about the ownership structure of many these companies, including Monarch’s own free trial Getting Sleepy.
