Multi-level marketing companies (MLMs) like to refer to themselves as “Direct Sales” companies, because this puts the focus on the sale of the product or service, and takes focus off the business of recruiting. I’ve been researching MLMs for years, and I’ve found that companies use the product or services …
Eight years ago, I wrote a piece about how financial guru Dave Ramsey sucks because he supports multi-level marketing. I was hoping that since then, things may have changed. They haven’t. Dave has even gone further with his support and promotion of MLMs as a legitimate way for people to …
For years I’ve been collecting income disclosure statements issued by multi-level marketing (MLM) companies. These are the proof that you have almost no chance of making money in MLM, no matter what the company or product. Across the board, you see that the vast majority of the distributors make almost …
Last week I joined Leah Wietholter of Workman Forensics in Tulsa, OK on her podcast The Investigation Game. We talked about one of the largest consumer frauds: multi-level marketing (MLM). You may know MLM by other names such as: direct sales, network marketing, affiliate marketing, consumer-direct marketing, or home based …
Hundreds of thousands of Americans get sucked into Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) companies each year. From Mary Kay to Amway to Herbalife to Avon, the list is seemingly endless. Each offers its own special spin on the products it sells, but the main focus of an MLM is on recruiting new …
Tracy Coenen explains what a Ponzi scheme is: a specific type of investment scheme in which the perpetrator recruits investors and then pays their “investment returns” with money from new investors.
Yesterday I read a horrifying local story about Edward Matthes, a former financial advisor for Mutual of Omaha who stole at least $2.6 million from his clients. According to the Information in the federal case, Matthes carried on his fraud between 2013 and 2019. SIX YEARS!!!! He swindled at least …
Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave, one of the stars of reality series Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (RHOBH) has just been accused of running a scam with her diet and fitness program called All In By Teddi. The All in by Teddi diet scam (allegedly) is supposed to be an accountability diet …
Defenders of multi-level marketing (MLM) are often heard saying that it’s a legitimate business method! Even government regulators say MLM is legitimate. And it is true that state and federal governments in the United States generally allow multi-level marketing companies to operate with little oversight. This is despite the fact …
People researching multi-level marketing (MLM) company Primerica seem to end up on this blog. I wrote previously about the fake job interview that is really a recruiting session for Primerica, some of the scammy aspects of Primerica, and one former Primerica representative’s story. I even get Primerica reps emailing me …
