National Public Radio (NPR) reported exclusively on the 14th that a senior citizen with dementia in Michigan was persuaded by a salesperson at a shopping mall to spend $42,000 on skincare products and beauty devices. In another instance, a woman in New Mexico was pressured by spa staff into purchasing a $30,000 red-light therapy device—with an additional $78,000 charged in sales tax. In Hawaii, a woman with a disability, believing she was receiving a complimentary facial at a spa, had her walker taken away for several hours and was only able to leave after spending $2,600. All these cases are linked to the “Mazal Group.”
Over the past year, NPR conducted an investigation that included interviews with more than 50 affected consumers and former employees of the group. Reporters also gathered litigation records from state and federal courts and, utilizing the Freedom of Information Act, obtained nearly 500 consumer complaints filed with various agencies. Furthermore, reporters visited several Mazal Group-affiliated retail locations—including those in Virginia, Maryland, and California—as well as the company’s corporate headquarters in Chatsworth, California.
The report notes that the group’s salespeople frequently pressure consumers—including the elderly and individuals with disabilities—into purchasing products or services that are not only exorbitantly expensive but also unwanted, unaffordable, or explicitly rejected by the customers.
These sales tactics—described a decade ago by federal agents as a “credit card overcharge scheme”—remain active today in shopping malls and commercial districts ranging from Honolulu to Annapolis, Maryland.
Federal authorities previously investigated young Israeli nationals who entered the U.S. on tourist visas and subsequently worked as salespeople for skincare products in shopping malls. Dozens of defendants in that case pleaded guilty to charges including visa fraud and money laundering. Reports indicate that, according to social media posts and messages, some stores linked to the “Marshaal Group” continue to employ foreign nationals—who entered the country on tourist visas—as sales staff.
Based on hundreds of consumer complaints filed with state attorneys general offices, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and other oversight bodies, many consumers describe a similar experience: they are approached in a shopping mall by a young salesperson offering a free sample, only to be quickly ushered into a store and subjected to an aggressive, high-pressure sales pitch.
One consumer reported that, at the point of sale, an extra zero was added to their transaction total—turning a $1,300 charge into $13,000. Other consumers stated that they were enrolled in “installment payment plans” that were, in reality, predatory lending schemes.
The “Marshaal Group” is a family-owned business, held by Daphna Oded Weingarten—a native of Israel—and operated in conjunction with her husband, brother, and other relatives. The family owns over 50 trademarks for skincare and haircare brands—including Voupre, Avinichi, Introstem, CbGäRDN, Venofye, Lionesse, and Orogold Cosmetics—all of which sell nearly identical product lines.
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