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Tim McCallan’s Intermark Communications Slammed by FTC

In my previous article Tim McCallan And His Nine Lives in the Debt Relief World I covered the role of Tim McCallan in Intermark Communications, which later changed their name to IMM Interactive, but still located at 135 Crossways Park Drive, Woodbury, New York 11797.

The FTC took aim at a different product, other than debt relief but it moved in on what it found to be fake news sites pushing the product. I’ve covered these fake news site before, here.

The FTC filed a complaint for permanent injunction against IMM Interactive, Intermark Communications, COPEAC, and Intermark Media.

The complaint alleges:

Since at least February 2010, Defendant has advertised, marketed, and promoted various products to consumers throughout the United States, including acai berry products, which include but are not limited to Acai Optimum, Acai Reduce, Acai Pure, and LeanSpa (the “Acai Berry Products”), and also including companion products, which include but are not limited to Max Cleanse Pro, Advanced Cleanse, Rio Cleanse, Natura Cleanse, and Colotox (collectively, the “Companion Products”), all of which Defendant advertises, markets, and promotes with Acai Berry Products.

Defendant promotes products through websites designed to look like news reports. The sites use domain names such as channel2local.com, channel9healthbeat.com, channel9investigates.com, consumerproductsdaily.com, nbssnewsat6.com, and news4daily.tv, and include titles such as “Consumer Products Daily,” “Channel Local 2,” “9 News,” “News 9,” “NBS News 6,” and “News 4 Daily.” The sites often include the names and logos of major broadcast and cable television networks, falsely representing that the reports on the sites have been seen on these networks.

The sites purport to provide objective investigative reports authored by reporters or commentators typically pictured on the sites. The supposed authors of the reports claim to have tested the products on themselves and experienced dramatic and positive results. Following the reports are “responses” or “comments” that appear to be independent statements made by ordinary consumers.

In fact, Defendant’s news reports are fake. Reporters or commentators pictured on the sites are fictional and never conducted the tests or experienced the results described in the reports. The “responses” and “comments” following the reports are simply additional advertising content, not independent statements from ordinary consumers.

The sole purpose of Defendant’s websites is to promote the featured products on behalf of third-party merchants who then sell the products on other websites. Defendant’s promotional websites are designed to entice consumers to click on links that will transfer them to a merchant’s website. Defendant receives a commission or other payment for each consumer who clicks on a link and ultimately makes a purchase or signs up for a “free trial” on the merchant’s website. In this context, Defendant commonly is referred to as an “affiliate marketer.” Defendant also operates a network of affiliate marketers.

See also  Americorp Does Not Show Up for Trial. Allegro Law Litigation and Bankruptcy Nearing Completion, Maybe.

Defendant has failed to disclose in a clear and conspicuous manner that it is not objectively evaluating these products and, in fact, is being paid to promote the products. Defendant’s websites either fail entirely to disclose these facts, or fail to do so adequately. The relevant information, if disclosed at all, typically appears in small type at the bottom of the web page, following the fake consumer comments, well below the links to the products being sold. – Source

FTC Goes for a Temporary Restraining Order

The Federal Trade Commission also filed a request for a temporary restraining order to close this operation down.

The Federal Trade Commission asks that the Court take immediate action to stop an online marketing scheme that uses fake news websites and false weight loss claims to deceive consumers into purchasing products. For at least the past year, Defendant IMM Interactive, Inc. has operated numerous websites featuring phony investigative reports and reviews of a range of dubious products, including acai berry weight loss supplements. Defendant crafts the sites to look like legitimate news sites by using domain names such as channel9healthbeat.com and nbsnewsat6.com, and by displaying mastheads such as “NBS News” or News 9.” The sites also prominently claim that the reports have been “seen on” several major news outlets, including ABC and CNN. Defendant’s websites often feature a supposed reporter’s independent investigative report of losing twenty-five pounds after using an acai berry supplement for four weeks. The report is followed by a section full of glowing consumer “comments” about the product.

Nearly everything about these “news” sites is fake. The websites are not maintained by news organizations. The reporter, the investigation, and the consumer comments are all fabricated. Moreover, the claims about weight loss from acai berries are false: no evidence establishes that acai berries cause weight loss, and the dramatic weight loss Defendant describes is unachievable. Instead, the websites are simply advertisements aimed at deceptively enticing consumers to purchase the featured products from third party websites, thereby generating commissions for Defendant. The FTC has received numerous complaints from consumers who, having been deceived by fake news sites like those of Defendant, were charged between $60 and $100 for the products. Defendant has spent over $1 million to disseminate their deceptive ads throughout the Internet, and their deceptive conduct likely has injured thousands of consumers.

The FTC respectfully asks this Court to bring Defendant’s harmful practices to a swift end by entering the FTC’s proposed Temporary Restraining Order (“TRO”). The FTC’s proposed TRO is narrowly tailored to enjoin Defendant’s illegal practices and preserve the Court’s ability to provide effective final relief. – Source

I have not looked around recently but either the FTC did not notice the fake news sites pushing debt relief services or maybe they felt they had enough to go after with the other items. Either way it targets these ads using the same underlying issue, they appeared to be deceptive, untruthful and misleading.

See also  The Saga of How the Mighty Fall in Debt Relief - Tim McCallan Bankruptcy

Sincerely,


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13 thoughts on “Tim McCallan’s Intermark Communications Slammed by FTC”

  1. There is certainly a connection. An insider at Vortex told me that at one point the call center was fielding calls for some of the products mentioned in the FTC documentation.

    Reply
    • There is certainly a connection. An insider at Vortex told me that at one point the call center was fielding calls for some of the products mentioned in the FTC documentation.

      Reply
      • Talk to Vanessa Vinicombe CFO of Americorp/Seton/ Campos Law/Vortex/Allegro Law Firm and so much more. Talk to her husband Alex Vinicombe who does whatever Mccallen wants. Talk to The General manager Gennaro Esposito also a lap dog. Talk to Ryan Gallagher who is McCallens protege to steal more millions from customers. Jeannie Mccallen who is the wife of Tim, has changed her name back to Manzo and own a clothing company called in the skinny. They frustrated there employees by changing names every month and have employees give legal advice. The employees did not know they were breaking the law until the owner of Allegro Law firm told them to stop it was illegal.  Talk to Scott Rother from Port Jefferson, He was head of the settlement department collecting large amount of insentives from every settlement that was made by the settlement department. Tim mccallen is so ruthless one christmas he had an christmas office party and raffled people bonuses.

        Reply
        • Jeannie Manzo aka Jeannie Manzo had a huge cocaine problem. The Mccallens were so ghetto that they would air out there dirty laundry while the employees were working. Yelling and screaming at each other in front of employees.

          Reply
          • These people need to be in jail! They hurt a lot of people and there employees in New York. The day he laid of his employees July 15th 2009, He wasn’t even there. He had Vannessa Vinicombe aka Vanessa Smith and Alex Vinicombe to fire all the employees.

          • Vanessa Vinicombe and Alex Vinicombe were the huge part of the scam. Vanessa used to handle the wire transfers that came in from customers personal checking accounts. sometimes she would double dip in the accounts and bounce peoples mortgages. They wrote so many bounce checks to pay off clients debts. You wanna know why? because they took the escrow money and started their company with the skin scare stuff

          • Locate Scott Rother from port jefferson,NY and that fat bastard Gennaro Esposito ( last I heard he was living in Florida) managing for them. They are all crooks. I would love to see nothing more than.
            Tim Mcallen, Jeannie McCallen, Genarro Esposito aka Jerry, Vanessa Vinicombe, and Alex Vinicombe.. Most importantly  katherine dougherty she is the back bone of them getting they riches off of poor citizens. Scott Rother she be in trouble too he ran the legal department but is never ever a lawyer.  investigate them. If I have more info I will give it to you

        • this must be claudia I can tell by your writing because (no offense claudia) but you were as dumb as a box of rocks but you know i always tried to help you. You would bad mouth anyone who even looked at you. Off the subject you were really not a very nice peson to anyone in the ny and Fl office. I mean the way you looked I understand but you were one fat unhappy person shooting venom on anyone that even came your way. Stop hiding behind your screen name. May someone give you the gift of plastic surgery and liposuction for Christmas. You need some serious help. Heard you got arrested again for stealing , the THIRD time. YOu always did that from what I heard in FL.

          Reply
          • Wow if this one of the mccallans responding here it shows what low life’s they really are. Don’t put yourself on a pedestal you show your true colors in that post, it must be why so many people have so many things to say about you

            Claudia don’t let this get to you for 2013 the mccallans will get a jail cell for Christmas the fraud these people committed is monstrous stealing old ladies SSI payments. They should be ashamed of themselves I hope if they have kids they don’t realize what trash their parents are

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