Supplement company NOW recently discovered multiple fraudulent supplements sold on Amazon which imitated the NOW brand, as well as another prominent supplement brand. NOW began investigating after being notified by several consumers about suspicious NOW-branded products they had purchased. 
 
NOW claimed a company operating as A2X1 sold 11 different counterfeit NOW supplements on Amazon for about two weeks. These products were similar to NOW supplements but had clearly falsified packaging, labels, and contents. Each product contained small white capsules with odorless white powder.
 
NOW analyzed the white powders in the capsules and confirmed that they contain white rice flour. The company also found trace amount of Sildenafil (Viagra) in some samples, which is being reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
 
“It’s enraging that these criminals are trying to cash in on trust in the NOW brand, earned over decades, to defraud consumers,” said Dan Richard, NOW Health Group VP of Global Sales and Marketing.
 
Amazon agreed to block all sales by A2X1 on April 11. NOW asked Amazon to recall each item sold and give NOW a list of these consumers, along with inventory levels and information about the fraudulent seller, but Amazon declinced to take that action. 
 
According to NOW, the same seller listed several vitamin supplements from another prominent brand. NOW has communicated with the company, and the two will be investigating the problem together.
 
"We remain on high alert regarding this problem and have contacted the FDA Health Fraud Brand division as well as Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit,” Richard said.  “Additional legal steps are being taken in order to find the source of the problem and put it out of business. However, we fear that these fraudulent products may reappear on Amazon by a different seller name, or on another platform or in other international markets.”
 
Some packaging differences include:

• The bottle is not the exact same bottle NOW uses; the neck is different
• The fraudulent product lids are childproof, and not purple.
• Each label does not contain any UPC number.
• There is no lot number or any imprint on the bottom of the bottles.
• The labels are squared on the edges, and not rounded.
• The NOW logo on the front is slightly elongated, as is the main product name.
• The labels can peel off and are not permanent, and are slightly more shiny.

 
While some of the items were listed as tablets or softgels, consumers received small white #1 capsules, and bottles are labeled as capsules even in cases where NOW doesn’t sell the product in that form.
 
The fraudulent NOW products identified so far include:
 

• NOW Adam Male Multi 180 Softgels
• NOW Apple Pectin 700 mg 120 Veg Caps
• NOW D-Mannose 500mg 300 Veg Caps
• NOW I-Glutamine 500 mg 300 Caps
• NOW I-Lysine 500 mg 250 Veg Caps
• NOW Lutein & Zeaxanthin 50 Caps (Should Be Softgels)
• NOW Magnesium Citrate 200 mg 250 Tabs (Should be Capsules)
• NOW Mood Support 90 Veg Caps
• NOW Psyllium Husk 500 mg 500 Veg Caps
• NOW Saccharomyces Boulardii 60 Veg Caps
• NOW Valerian Root 500 mg 250 Veg Caps