If you let your gamer brain win and buy an N95 masquerade from Razer , a company well known for its keyboards and computer mice , then you may be gentle to compensation — well , at least a refund . The Federal Trade Commission announced Monday that itreached a settlementwith the gaming hardware company that will localise aside $ 1 million to recoup people who purchased the Razer Zephyr , a short - lived “ N95 ” mask trade by the society during the COVID-19 pandemic .
Under the terms of the agreement , the FTCsaidit would send checks and PayPal payment contain full refunds to 6,764 consumers who purchased the masque . According to the government agency , consumers who bought a Zephyr will have 90 day to cash in their check once received or 30 24-hour interval to swallow their PayPal defrayal . The FTC will be sending out the defrayal ground on book receive from Razer and does not need consumer to file a claim .
The payout represents the close of asurprisingly thoroughsaga that check the FTC crackdown on Razer for incorrectly market its Zephyr masks . The companionship first start offer the masquerade in 2021 , take the production was “ FDA - record and laboratory - tested for 99 percent BFE [ Bacteria Filtration Efficiency ] ” and offered “ greater protective covering compared to received disposable / cloth mask ” thanks to its “ replaceable N95 grad filters for maximal trade protection . ”

A person wearing a Razer Zephyr mask while typing on a laptop next to a person wearing a standard mask© Razer
Turns out , not so much . According to the FTC ’s investigating , Razer never pass on the Zephyr masks to the FDA or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for examination , and they were never certify as N95 grade . Instead , the company conducted trial through a third - political party contractor , but even those results showed the masks fell forgetful . To modify as N95 class , the mask must achieve 95 % or greater particulate filtration efficiency . The third - party mental test saw the Zephyr max out at 86.3 % in an area with lover on , and “ frequently tested much low . ”
Despite screw this , Razer decided to commercialize the masquerade as N95 anyway , which is a reasonably major no - no . The company betray the masquerade for a few calendar month spanning the back one-half of 2021 and the start of 2022 , charging $ 100 a soda pop before pulling the product as it started to receive examination .
While the company did inform purchaser after the fact that the Zephyr was “ not a aesculapian equipment nor certified as an N95 masque , ” it did not inform those buyers that refunds were available . As a result , the FTC find less than 6 % of Zephyr leverage commence their money back — which it is setting out to reform with this colony . Better deep than never .

Face MasksFederal Trade CommissionFTCMasksRazer
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