The Federal Trade Commission on May 15 sued the marketers of Pure Green Coffee, charging a handful of companies and their owners of using bogus weight loss claims and fake news websites to tout the product.

“AIPAC”Phony news site used to tout Pure Green Coffee.

The FTC said the marketers started selling the $50/month product after green coffee was touted on "The Dr. Oz Show" and used an online push to back its phony claims of weight loss.

"To induce consumers to purchase Pure Green Coffee, [d]efendants have used websites designed to look like legitimate consumer news sites or blogs that were in fact paid advertisements," the FTC said in its complaint, filed in federal court in Florida.

Those sites featured mastheads for news organizations like Women's Health Journal, Healthy Living Reviews and Consumer Lifestyles, while including the logos of actual news organizations like CNN and MSNBC, as well as footage from the Dr. Oz show. The sites also featured comments posted by purported customers.

"In truth and in fact, the purported news webpages … are fake," the FTC argues. "Reporters or commentators pictured on the sites are fictional, and they never conducted the tests or experienced the results described in the reports. The 'responses' and 'comments' following the reports are simply additional advertising content, not independent statements from ordinary consumers."

The FTC said the phony news sites did not disclose "in a clear and conspicuous manner" that they were not objectively evaluating the product.

The federal regulator is charging the parties -- Nicholas Congleton, Paul Pascual, Bryan Walsh and their companies -- with four counts, including making false or unsubstantiated efficacy claims, false proof claims, failure to disclose material connection regarding the testimonials, and misrepresentation for the fake news reports.