A half-page “PAID ADVERTISEMENT” in my newspaper (The Mercury News (part of the Bay Area News Group)) on March 25, 2020 is headlined “Greek Inventor’s Eardrops Could Make Hearing Aids Obsolete by 2023”.  From an impressive-sounding “Life Sprout Bioceuticals”. At a price of Only $44.95. This was accompanied with eight “reviews” from putative satisfied customers. Decades ago such hucksters were selling snake oil. But these days watchdog Better Business Bureau is wise to these tactics, and has published seven complaints, mostly dealing with the company’s failure to refund customers’ money when they discovered the product doesn’t work.