Critics have said the company's marketing campaigns make the brand attractive to teens. According to federal data, vaping among teens jumped 78 percent from 2017 to 2018. But the company says it has never marketed to youth and that its target market is existing adult smokers. The company previously came under fire for ads on social media, but it has since shut down its Facebook and Instagram accounts in the US. A Juul spokesperson said its "paid influencer program, which was never formalized, was a small, short-lived pilot." The company supposedly paid less than $10,000 to fewer than 10 influencers, who were all over the age of 30.

The FTC investigation has been going on since at least September, but this is the first it has been reported. The Food and Drug Administration is also investigating the company, and it's faced scrutiny by the House and Senate. "We fully cooperate and are transparent with any government agency or regulator who have interest in our category," a Juul spokesman said in a statement, which can be read below. Juul isn't alone. Yesterday, North Carolina filed a lawsuit against eight other e-cigarette companies.

Juul has attempted to curb teen vaping -- though it's unclear how effective any of its measures have been. Its track-and-trace program allows educators, law enforcement and parents to search Juul serial numbers in an online portal to determine where they were purchased. It's also considered using Bluetooth e-cigs to block teens, and today, it launched new standards, which will require retailers to scan customers' IDs and prevent bulk purchases. Those efforts may not be enough to spare Juul additional federal scrutiny.

The full statement from Juul is provided below: