Mercury Marketing, LLC

Also known as: Mercury Defendants. Trading as: Behavioral Healthcare Group of America, LLC, JLux Consulting, LLC, Malibu Detox, LLC, Malibu Recovery Center, LLC, Aliya Health Group, LLC, Fennaside, LLC, JHEL Holdings LLC.

The FTC sued this lead-generation operation in June 2025, alleging it ran Google search ads impersonating specific addiction treatment clinics and routed the resulting calls to its own clients' facilities, with telemarketers posing as staff of the clinic the caller had searched for.

Documented. Subject of a regulatory action, lawsuit, or other official proceeding on the public record.

Why this one is here

Most entries on this site concern buyers losing money. This one concerns a lead-generation agency, and it is included because lead generation is a B2B service sold to businesses, and because the FTC’s account describes the mechanism in unusual detail.

The people harmed were not the agency’s clients. They were the people at the other end of the phone.

What is alleged

The FTC filed a complaint on 24 June 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, matter number 242 3079, naming Mercury Marketing, LLC and eight other entities, together with four individuals: Christopher LiVolsi, Dennis Rinker, Robby Stempler, and Jennifer Russ.

The complaint describes a two-phase scheme. In the lead generation phase, the Mercury defendants created mobile Google search ads impersonating specific substance use disorder treatment facilities that consumers were searching for. Each ad carried an integrated phone number that appeared to belong to the searched-for facility but instantly routed the caller to one of Mercury’s clients.

In the telemarketing phase, the FTC alleges, call handlers typically posed as representatives of the clinic the caller had searched for, or as staff of a centralised admissions office, and then falsely represented that clinical professionals had recommended Malibu Detox or Malibu Recovery based on an objective assessment of the caller’s individual history and needs after weighing multiple options.

The FTC states that as a result, many people were deterred from reaching the clinic they were actually trying to contact.

Alleged violations

The FTC Act, the Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention Act, and the Commission’s Impersonation Rule. The complaint seeks a permanent bar on the conduct and civil penalties. The Commission vote authorising the filing was 3-0.

What is not established

This is a filed complaint stating the government’s case, not a finding of fact. The case was recorded as pending at the time of writing.

We have not yet contacted the named parties for comment. When we do, the attempt and any response will appear on this entry.

Sources

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Identity