FTC Sues 'Invisible Mask' Makers Over Fake Anti-Covid Claims

The Federal Trade Commission sued makers of an “invisible mask” they falsely claimed to have protected users from Covid-19.

FTC took legal action against two New York-based manufacturers and their corporate heads to stop them from deceptively marketing their “1 Virus Buster Invisible Mask” that purportedly creates a three-foot barrier of protection against 99.9 percent of all viruses and bacteria, including coronavirus, without any scientific proof that the product actually works.

Despite receiving a warning letter that the FTC sent in July 2020, the companies continued falsely advertising the Invisible Mask — a badge worn around the neck — as a scientifically proven defense against Covid and other diseases and that it was a government-approved device, FTC said in its complaint filed at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The manufacturers also claimed to have proved in a case study conducted among 598 volunteers the product’s “ability to kill viruses and bacteria and results on symptoms of allergies.”

The defendants in this case are K W Technology Inc. and K W Technology NV Inc.; its President and co-owner Gary Kong; and its chief executive officer and co-owner Timothy Wetzel.

The complaint alleges that the defendants violated the FTC Act and the Covid Consumer Protection Act through their marketing and sale of the Invisible Mask on their own website, YouTube, and Facebook, where it was called The 1 Virus Buster Card.

According to one of the defendants’ websites, the 1 Invisible Mask offers three feet of protection from airborne viruses including Covid 19. This added protection is needed when masks are removed in order to eat, drink and speak filling that void. The company claims that quantum science behind the technology allows for this protective barrier to shield against pathogens and viruses for up to 30 days.

Three of the defendants have agreed to settle the FTC’s complaint in this case. A proposed court order will ban Kong and his two companies from advertising, promoting, or selling any product claiming to prevent or treat Covid-19, unless the claims are supported by scientific evidence.

The companies have been fined $150,000.

Litigation continues against defendant Wetzel, who did not agree to the proposed settlement.

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