Evoke Wellness to Pay 19 Million to Settle FTC Claims That They Misled Consumers Seeking Substance Use Disorder Treatment Federal Trade Commission
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ppWe enforce federal competition and consumer protection laws that prevent anticompetitive deceptive and unfair business practicesppView EnforcementppFind legal resources and guidance to understand your business responsibilities and comply with the lawppBrowse legal resourcesppView all Competition Matters Blog postsppWe work to advance government policies that protect consumers and promote competitionppView PolicyppFind legal resources and guidance to understand your business responsibilities and comply with the lawppBrowse legal resourcesppView all Technology Blog postsppLearn more about your rights as a consumer and how to spot and avoid scams Find the resources you need to understand how consumer protection law impacts your businessppVisit militaryconsumergovppVisit consumergovppVisit Competition CountsppCompetition GuidanceppView News and EventsppView more EventsppSign up for the latest newsppLearn about the FTCs notable video game cases and what our agency is doing to keep the public safeppExplore refund statistics including where refunds were sent and the dollar amounts refunded with this visualizationppOur mission is protecting the public from deceptive or unfair business practices and from unfair methods of competition through law enforcement advocacy research and educationppLearn more about the FTCppAndrew N Ferguson is Chairman of the Federal Trade CommissionppChairman Andrew N FergusonppLooking for legal documents or records Search the Legal Library insteadppLooking for legal documents or records Search the Legal Library insteadppTagsppThe operators of a Floridabased substance use disorder treatment clinic have agreed to pay 19 million settling allegations that they used deceptive Google search ads and telemarketing to impersonate other treatment providers They also agreed to a ban on impersonating other companies including other substance use disorder treatment clinics and other deceptive advertisingppAccording to the FTCs January 2025 complaint Evoke Wellness LLC Evoke Health Care Management LLC and their officers Jonathan Moseley and James Hull targeted consumers searching for specific substance use disorder clinics online They used the names of other clinics as keywords to masquerade as those clinics in Evokes Google ads which paired those names with the phone number to Evokes call centerppWhen consumers called Evoke telemarketers typically posed as a centralized admissions office or addiction treatment hotline rather than a call center associated with Evoke The telemarketers consistently reinforced the ads deception by falsely claiming to have a relationship with the clinic the consumer was trying to contact The FTC complaint alleged this conduct violated both the FTC Act and the Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention Act of 2018ppOpioids have ravaged American communities killing well over one hundred Americans per day and ruining the lives of countless others said FTC Chairman Andrew N Ferguson Todays settlement helps consumers affected by opioid addiction navigate their path to recovery by preventing fraudsters from leading them astray The Commission will continue to take every action it can against those who prey on our nations vulnerable in their time of needppThe proposed order resolves the FTCs complaint The order which must be approved by a federal judge before it goes into effect willppFinally the order imposes a 7 million civil penalty against the defendants which is partially suspended to 19 million because of their inability to pay the full amount If they are later found to have misrepresented their financial condition to the FTC the full amount will immediately become dueppThe Commission vote approving the stipulated final order was 30 The FTC filed the proposed order in the US District Court for the Southern District of FloridappThe lead staff attorneys on this matter are Victor DeFrancis and Cassandra Rasmussen in the FTCs Bureau of Consumer ProtectionppNOTE Stipulated final orders or injunctions have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judgeppThe Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers The FTC will never demand money make threats tell you to transfer money or promise you a prize Learn more about consumer topics at consumerftcgov or report fraud scams and bad business practices at ReportFraudftcgov Follow the FTC on social media read consumer alerts and the business blog and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alertsppBlog Seeking treatment for addiction Some things to know before you searchp
The gov means its official
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pp
The site is secure
The https ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely
ppWe enforce federal competition and consumer protection laws that prevent anticompetitive deceptive and unfair business practicesppView EnforcementppFind legal resources and guidance to understand your business responsibilities and comply with the lawppBrowse legal resourcesppView all Competition Matters Blog postsppWe work to advance government policies that protect consumers and promote competitionppView PolicyppFind legal resources and guidance to understand your business responsibilities and comply with the lawppBrowse legal resourcesppView all Technology Blog postsppLearn more about your rights as a consumer and how to spot and avoid scams Find the resources you need to understand how consumer protection law impacts your businessppVisit militaryconsumergovppVisit consumergovppVisit Competition CountsppCompetition GuidanceppView News and EventsppView more EventsppSign up for the latest newsppLearn about the FTCs notable video game cases and what our agency is doing to keep the public safeppExplore refund statistics including where refunds were sent and the dollar amounts refunded with this visualizationppOur mission is protecting the public from deceptive or unfair business practices and from unfair methods of competition through law enforcement advocacy research and educationppLearn more about the FTCppAndrew N Ferguson is Chairman of the Federal Trade CommissionppChairman Andrew N FergusonppLooking for legal documents or records Search the Legal Library insteadppLooking for legal documents or records Search the Legal Library insteadppTagsppThe operators of a Floridabased substance use disorder treatment clinic have agreed to pay 19 million settling allegations that they used deceptive Google search ads and telemarketing to impersonate other treatment providers They also agreed to a ban on impersonating other companies including other substance use disorder treatment clinics and other deceptive advertisingppAccording to the FTCs January 2025 complaint Evoke Wellness LLC Evoke Health Care Management LLC and their officers Jonathan Moseley and James Hull targeted consumers searching for specific substance use disorder clinics online They used the names of other clinics as keywords to masquerade as those clinics in Evokes Google ads which paired those names with the phone number to Evokes call centerppWhen consumers called Evoke telemarketers typically posed as a centralized admissions office or addiction treatment hotline rather than a call center associated with Evoke The telemarketers consistently reinforced the ads deception by falsely claiming to have a relationship with the clinic the consumer was trying to contact The FTC complaint alleged this conduct violated both the FTC Act and the Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention Act of 2018ppOpioids have ravaged American communities killing well over one hundred Americans per day and ruining the lives of countless others said FTC Chairman Andrew N Ferguson Todays settlement helps consumers affected by opioid addiction navigate their path to recovery by preventing fraudsters from leading them astray The Commission will continue to take every action it can against those who prey on our nations vulnerable in their time of needppThe proposed order resolves the FTCs complaint The order which must be approved by a federal judge before it goes into effect willppFinally the order imposes a 7 million civil penalty against the defendants which is partially suspended to 19 million because of their inability to pay the full amount If they are later found to have misrepresented their financial condition to the FTC the full amount will immediately become dueppThe Commission vote approving the stipulated final order was 30 The FTC filed the proposed order in the US District Court for the Southern District of FloridappThe lead staff attorneys on this matter are Victor DeFrancis and Cassandra Rasmussen in the FTCs Bureau of Consumer ProtectionppNOTE Stipulated final orders or injunctions have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judgeppThe Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers The FTC will never demand money make threats tell you to transfer money or promise you a prize Learn more about consumer topics at consumerftcgov or report fraud scams and bad business practices at ReportFraudftcgov Follow the FTC on social media read consumer alerts and the business blog and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alertsppBlog Seeking treatment for addiction Some things to know before you searchp
