Does this describe your MLM?
Kevin Thompson hires himself out to multi-level marketing companies to give them legal counsel. Supposedly he knows his way around the legality of MLMs, just like my buddy Gerry Nehra supposedly does. So I was perusing Kevin’s website and came across this interesting diatribe about what separates “legitimate” MLMs from illegal pyramid schemes. I’ve written [...]
Wondering why frauds at public companies aren’t being pursued by the Feds?
Consumers are often left wondering why the Securities and Exchange Commission doesn’t heavily pursue allegations of fraud against public companies like Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK), Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA), Herbalife (NYSE:HLF), and the like. I’ve always said the answer is simple: There are not enough resources devoted to investigating and prosecuting fraud in public companies. Executives are [...]
Searching for Shop to Earn scam
There are still plenty of people searching for “Shop to Earn scam,” ShopToEarn fraud, “is Shop to Earn legitimate,” Shop To Earth scam, and the like. The company has, for the most part, avoided negative commentary on the internet. It seems important, therefore, to go over some of the finer points of this newer multi-level [...]
Failure rates in YTB and other MLMs
Noted MLM expert Robert FitzPatrick did a recent blog post on the YourTravelBiz.com lawsuit filed by the California Attorney General. He has a nice analysis of how and why YTB is nothing more than a pyramid. These multi-level marketing companies are almost always the same, they each just have a different “hook.” In this case, [...]
Update on YourTravelBiz.com legal proceedings
Earlier this week I wrote about the California Attorney General filing a lawsuit against YourTravelBiz.com (YTB) and calling the company a “gigantic pyramid scheme.” Of course, the company has published a response to the lawsuit that tends to seriously downplay the charges against them. They list the charges, which do not sound all that serious: [...]
MonaVie: Scam or not?
The scheme: Typical multi-level marketing company, using the guise of “direct sales” to make the business look like a legitimate retail venture. The reality is that it’s nothing more than a recruiting scheme like Usana, Mary Kay, Arbonne, PrePaid Legal, Primerica, Herbalife, United First Financial, and so many other companies that make big promises to [...]
Fantastic article about MLMs and moms
The publication Brain, Child has a wonderful story written by Stacey Schultz, about the devastating effects multi-level marketing companies can have on women. She’s included specific comments about Herbalife, Arbonne, and Mary Kay, but also has a lot of general information on MLMs. Excerpts of the story that pertain to Mary Kay and my site, [...]
Pressing questions for MLM supporter Len Clements
Today I got an email from Len Clements, the multi-level marketing evangelist and career college graduate who has been a vocal supporter of Usana Health Sciences (NASDAQ:USNA). He published five disjointed “rebuttals” to the various reports, videos, and press releases put out by Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute about Usana. These rebuttals appeared to [...]
Herbalife “responds,” media doesn’t verify
Today Herbalife Ltd (NYSE:HLF) “responded” to the allegations of lead content in Herbalife products brought by Barry Minkow and Fraud Discovery Institute. Barry’s allegations were supported by test results from an independent laboratory. The response today included Herbalife’s statement that they had their products tested and Barry is wrong. And did Reuters ask to see [...]
