Florida business gets slammed with bad reviews from Chinese scam, lawsuit says

A Cocoa Beach business owner says he is getting bombarded with negative views and even threats from angry customers who are confused by a Chinese-run scam with a similar name.

Mark Fox is suing and asking the courts to intervene in a new federal lawsuit filed this month in Orlando.

Fox, who had previously been the Chief Engineer in the Space Shuttle program, launched Resona Health six years ago to sell therapy products and supplements. The organizations’ specialty is the Pulsed Electromagnetic Field, which first interested Fox when he was trying to treat his dog’s severe arthritis and learned about energy therapy.

Fox’s website is resona.health.com. But last year, a website called resonaofficial.com selling dietary supplements sprung up from a Chinese company called Nanyang Aihua Copper Carving Handicraft Co., his lawsuit said.

Both companies were trying to attract customers in the health and wellness industry.

“Standing alone, Nanyang’s adoption of a confusingly similar mark would present a straightforward case of trademark infringement. But the full scope of the harm extends well beyond the use of an infringing mark. What is actively destroying Resona Health’s business is not merely the existence of the confusion — it is what Nanyang is doing under the Resona name,” Fox’s lawsuit said. “Nanyang operates a predatory subscription trap.”

Customers who buy a single bottle of Nanyang’s supplements are unexpectedly signed up in the company’s monthly subscription every month, which charges them automatically. Customers can’t cancel and can’t reach Nanyang, which doesn’t respond to emails or answer calls, the lawsuit said.

Nanyang did not respond to a message for comment from Florida Politics for this story.

Fox believes his business has lost $1 million in sales because of the confusion and the bad reviews people are incorrectly leaving for his company, he told Florida Politics in an interview. He has been busy answering daily calls and emails from confused consumers and defending his name against bad business reviews that are directed at the wrong company.

One Nanyang customer was so irate, he sent a screenshot of Fox’s neighborhood from Google Maps and threatened Fox.

“The reason my wife didn’t freak out too bad … I told her, ‘Well, the guy literally was in the UK, so he’s got to get on a plane to come get us,’” Fox said.

“The consequences have been devastating. … Confused consumers are physically mailing Nanyang ‘s supplements to Resona Health’s office in Cocoa Beach, Florida, demanding refunds for products Resona Health has never sold,” his lawsuit said. “Negative reviews intended for Nanyang are flooding various online review platforms, dragging down the goodwill that took years to build.”

Google’s AI-generated search results are picking up the other supplement company, Fox’s lawsuit said.

“When a potential customer searches for ‘Resona Health,’ Google’s AI presents summary that associates Resona Health with unauthorized subscription charges, deceptive billing, and nonexistent customer service; none of which has anything to do with Resona Health,” the lawsuit said.