About

Important information

• Pending Government Action:

  Government Action: BBB reports on known government actions involving business’ marketplace conduct:

  FTC v Evoke Wellness LLC. Case number 0:25-cv-60073-MD SDFL
  

  As of January 13, 2025

  
  

  FTC Sues Evoke Wellness and Top Executives for Misleading Consumers Seeking Substance Use Disorder Treatment

  
  

  Complaint alleges Evoke used Google Ads and telemarketing to masquerade as other clinics; Commission seeks civil penalties and permanent injunctive relief.

  
  

  The Federal Trade Commission sued Florida-based Evoke Wellness,
  LLC and Evoke Health Care Management and their officers Jonathan Mosley
  and James Hull for using a combination of deceptive Google search ads
  and telemarketing to masquerade as other substance use disorder
  treatment providers.

  
  

  According to the complaint,
  Evoke tricked consumers into contacting Evoke’s call center by using
  deceptive Google search ads that appeared to be from the specific
  substance use disorder treatment clinics searched for by consumers.
  Evoke targeted consumers who were searching on their mobile phones not
  only by using the specific names of other clinics as keywords but also
  prominently displayed the names of those other clinics in the Google ads
  in a format that impersonated the searched-for clinics.

  
  

  When
  consumers clicked on or dialed the telephone number in those ads, Evoke
  funneled them to their own telemarketers. Evoke’s telemarketers
  continued the deception, typically by falsely claiming that consumers
  had reached a centralized admissions office or addiction treatment
  hotline, rather than a call center associated with Evoke. Even when
  callers indicated clearly that they sought a different, specific
  treatment clinic, the telemarketers consistently reinforced the callers’
  misimpressions created by Evoke’s deceptive ads, for example by falsely
  claiming to have a relationship with the other clinic.

  
  

  The complaint further alleges that between 2021 and 2023, Evoke
  disseminated at least 68,510 misleading Google search ads, resulting in
  at least 3,500 calls to Evoke’s call center. The Commission alleges this
  conduct violated both FTC Act and the Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud
  Prevention Act of 2018. The lawsuit asks the court to permanently stop
  the deceptive practices and seeks civil penalties.

  
  

  The Commission vote authorizing the filing of the complaint against
  Evoke Wellness, LLC and Evoke Health Care Management, LLC as well as
  Mosley and Hull was 5-0. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District
  Court for the District for the Southern District of Florida.

  
  

  LINK: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/01/ftc-sues-evoke-wellness-top-executives-misleading-consumers-seeking-substance-use-disorder-treatment?utm_source=govdelivery
  
  
  
  

  Click here for details