Multi-level marketing/pyramid schemes and the people who fall for them

[The Un-Clit]

Guess what came back to haunt my family?
You guessed it, fucking Herbalife again.
My German stepfather got diagnosed with a kidney tumor and osteosarcoma (cancer) in the pelvis area of the bone. Stepmom got contacted by many people obviously worried about him, but among those there was a hun who proposed guess what - Herbalife.
Immediately blocked.

Fuckin' hell.

I never ceases to amaze me how MLM's can turn completely normal people into ravenous no-scruples anything for a sale and/or a downline clone of their Hun recruiter. Trying to benefit off people's fear, pain and suffering is the goddamn lowest of the low of human behaviour.

 

[Jason Wynn]

Had a friend in my early college days fall for Cutco/Vector Marketing. Nothing dramatic or interesting came of it, he got in, got suckered out of a few hundred buying his demonstration kit, realized it was a pyramid scheme and quit.

My question is how can people not immediately recognize these scams when they see them? Its clear as fucking day they're sketchy, alarm bells should be going off in your head the nanosecond one of their recruiters try to weasel up to you, or you see one of their ads. How do they keep conning so many people?

 

[An Account]

Had a friend in my early college days fall for Cutco/Vector Marketing. Nothing dramatic or interesting came of it, he got in, got suckered out of a few hundred buying his demonstration kit, realized it was a pyramid scheme and quit.

My question is how can people not immediately recognize these scams when they see them? Its clear as fucking day they're sketchy, alarm bells should be going off in your head the nanosecond one of their recruiters try to weasel up to you, or you see one of their ads. How do they keep conning so many people?

Combination of the sunk-cost fallacy and room temperature IQ.

 

[ShortBusDriver]

The biggest pyramid scheme of all....

social security

 

[Kiwi Lime Pie]

Guess what came back to haunt my family?
You guessed it, fucking Herbalife again.

Sadly, I'm not surprised. Herbalife seems to be surfacing where one least expects it these days.

There's a post-grad basketball academy in Nevada that uses "Herbalife24" as part of its team's nutritional plan.


The idea of Herbalife being hawked by the team's founder as a way to help aspiring elite-level athletes doesn't sound much better than those who promoted illegal performance-enhancing drugs in the past for similar reasons.

(Edited to add links and avoid doubleposting)

https://impactbball.com/post-grad-unsigned-senior-training-program/

(archive link)

Trying to benefit off people's fear, pain and suffering is the goddamn lowest of the low of human behaviour.

Or trying to benefit off of someone else's desire to gain some sort advantage -- or a supposed competitive advantage in the case of this post-graduate basketball program.

For the US$22000 in tuition and fees per individual (and $13000 extra for those choosing to live on campus) being charged, this academy should be able to afford a more reputable and beneficial nutritional supplement plan than Herbalife.

 

[Monika H.]

Fuckin' hell.

I never ceases to amaze me how MLM's can turn completely normal people into ravenous no-scruples anything for a sale and/or a downline clone of their Hun recruiter. Trying to benefit off people's fear, pain and suffering is the goddamn lowest of the low of human behaviour.

Sadly, I'm not surprised. Herbalife seems to be surfacing where one least expects it these days.

There's a post-grad basketball academy in Nevada that uses "Herbalife24" as part of its team's nutritional plan.
View attachment 1882099

The idea of Herbalife being hawked by the team's founder as a way to help aspiring elite-level athletes doesn't sound much better than those who promoted illegal performance-enhancing drugs in the past for similar reasons.

(Edited to add links and avoid doubleposting)

https://impactbball.com/post-grad-unsigned-senior-training-program/

(archive link)


Or trying to benefit off of someone else's desire to gain some sort advantage -- or a supposed competitive advantage in the case of this post-graduate basketball program.

For the US$22000 in tuition and fees per individual (and $13000 extra for those choosing to live on campus) being charged, this academy should be able to afford a more reputable and beneficial nutritional supplement plan than Herbalife.

Yeap.
I don't know, Herbalife really seems one of the most predatory.
One thing is approaching someone with the proposal of easy money & success, but approaching someone struggling with painful health conditions or cancer is pretty vile.

I have a special hate for them. First they approached with some guilt tripping about our miscarriage before we finally had our daughter; and now my ailing stepfather.
Fuck those people.

 

[Monika H.]

Bumping this thread to life with a fresh story.
Some of you might know I have a lawyer friend who's kind of a Communist sperg, but overall is a good guy. So him, his daughter and me have started scheduled evening podcasts on the likes of ''Ask the professional'' - he is a lawyer so he does law, I'm an accountant so I talk about money stuff, the daughter is a graphic designer who works on ads so she talks about marketing (legitimate one) and advertising.
Partecipation is free ofc and everyone is welcome to ask questions on the topic of the podcast, naturally we do get our free publicity from all this. We talk about topics such as Covid, work issues, tips to save money or on particular situations, etc.
We usually get around 20-30 viewers for podcast which is not bad.
Last Friday we talked about, you guess what? MLMs, which have started to plague our country even worse than 'rona-chan.
I didn't mince my words regarding them and my friends too outlined what was wrong with MLMs in legal and marketing terms. Things got crazy. Viewers skyrocketed to 80-90 and many were people agreeing, others were hunbots who started spamming the comment sections with ''Not true!!111!'' ''You are negative people!1111'' and lots of retarded smiles.
Even a so called guru who lives in Hong Kong for some reason barged in first being friendly and all, then losing his shit and calling us ''fascists''.

I've checked the guy's page on Saturday's morning and he had put a big photo of himself smiling in his pool with a writing of the like ''Never let negative and toxic people take away your smile''. I read the comments and while he didn't drop our names he said he was stressed because ''negative people in the world try to drain my energy.'' Fucking lol.

 

[Otterly]

AND a business card shilling a fucking faith-focussed MLM!

Was it a nutrition thing? Someone I know has just started a nutritionist business and she keeps posting g pics of herself at ‘conferences’ that look like mlm gatherings. When I google her business name I only get her but I am convinced it’s some kind of mlm

 

[Chimerical]

I have a story to tell. My dad is part of an MLM that sells courses on how to trade cryptocurrency and currencies. He has been trying to get me to buy the courses, but I always try to find a way to wiggle out of it. To put it lightly, I can tell that he doesn't think that highly of me for not wanting to "make more money".

I have attended some of the meetings. It really is just circlejerking about how rich everyone is and how much better their lives are because of trading. Even the "bootcamps" where you're supposed to learn about how to trade only barely scratch the surface of the mechanics. Not to mention the fact that they think NFTs are a good investment option...

The embarrassing thing is that I genuinely considered doing the courses through my dad's online account with them. I luckily had a friend talk me out of it, as they saw I was about to be sucked in without me knowing. The whole ordeal when he first got into the MLM was really stressful for me and got me thinking about my own financial situation... when it isn't even in a terrible state. Nowadays I just roll my eyes whenever he tells the family what mind-blowing revelation his mentor has told him recently, or distract myself as much as he can while he listens to meetings in front of me.

 

[MirnaMinkoff]

I have a story to tell. My dad is part of an MLM that sells courses on how to trade cryptocurrency and currencies. He has been trying to get me to buy the courses, but I always try to find a way to wiggle out of it. To put it lightly, I can tell that he doesn't think that highly of me for not wanting to "make more money".

I have attended some of the meetings. It really is just circlejerking about how rich everyone is and how much better their lives are because of trading. Even the "bootcamps" where you're supposed to learn about how to trade only barely scratch the surface of the mechanics. Not to mention the fact that they think NFTs are a good investment option...

The embarrassing thing is that I genuinely considered doing the courses through my dad's online account with them. I luckily had a friend talk me out of it, as they saw I was about to be sucked in without me knowing. The whole ordeal when he first got into the MLM was really stressful for me and got me thinking about my own financial situation... when it isn't even in a terrible state. Nowadays I just roll my eyes whenever he tells the family what mind-blowing revelation his mentor has told him recently, or distract myself as much as he can while he listens to meetings in front of me.

I noticed the entire crypto shilling sector taking on the trappings of shady MLMs but had not dug into MLMs actually pitching crypto scams. MLMs pitching crypto investing sounds like a one way ticket to bankruptcy. Your father could lose everything if he’s a true believer in this shit and you won’t even know until the utilities are shut off or eviction notices are served because even if they are - $75,000 the believers think they will definitely be a billionaire by next month.

With how many relatively smart investors got fleeced in crypto trading I can’t imagine how bad a MLM version would be. The ridiculous naked greed they appeal to with absurd promos is always amusing. If a very tan man with 10000 watt veneers is standing in front of a rented Lamborghini in front of giant tacky mansion, you know it’s a MLM pitch.

You should call out your dad on his greed. If he’s so insanely rich from his crypto MLM surely he should be treating you to a shopping spree in Milan or providing a few Caribbean island vacays. Turn all those NFTs into cash money.

 

[Chimerical]

I noticed the entire crypto shilling sector taking on the trappings of shady MLMs but had not dug into MLMs actually pitching crypto scams. MLMs pitching crypto investing sounds like a one way ticket to bankruptcy. Your father could lose everything if he’s a true believer in this shit and you won’t even know until the utilities are shut off or eviction notices are served because even if they are - $75,000 the believers think they will definitely be a billionaire by next month.

With how many relatively smart investors got fleeced in crypto trading I can’t imagine how bad a MLM version would be. The ridiculous naked greed they appeal to with absurd promos is always amusing. If a very tan man with 10000 watt veneers is standing in front of a rented Lamborghini in front of giant tacky mansion, you know it’s a MLM pitch.

You should call out your dad on his greed. If he’s so insanely rich from his crypto MLM surely he should be treating you to a shopping spree in Milan or providing a few Caribbean island vacays. Turn all those NFTs into cash money.

It was definitely surprising to see an actual MLM using crypto as its front. It's becoming more common nowadays though - IM Academy is one popular example. Once you've seen how one of them works, you've seen them all.

The absolute, blatant greed has manifested within my dad in a very ugly way. All he can seemingly think of is money now. At one point I mildly pitied him, since he came from a background riddled with poverty. But by the time he got into the MLM, our family had no money issues. I genuinely don't know how much money my dad has made (or lost) from this, and I quite frankly refuse to know. If shit hits the fan and he still doesn't realize how much of a fool he is, I will not offer any sympathy whatsoever.

 

[Jean ValJean]

I've been approached several times over the years by people trying to hook me into Amway.

The conversation is always the same:

Person: "You want to learn how to start your own business where you can make a ton of money?"
Me: "It's not Amway is it?"
Person: "No, no nothing like that."
Me: "What is it then?"
Person: "Come over to my house on Thursday night and you can learn everything you need to know."
Me: "What is it then?"
Person: "I can't really tell you any more, just come over on Thursday."
Me: "Is it Amway?"
Person: "No, no. Just come over and you'll learn all about it."
Me: "Tell me what it is or I'm not coming."
Person: "Okay, it is Amway, but it's not what you think."

I've also gotten several calls from Primerica telling me that they saw my resume, and that I would be an EXCELLENT candidate for a sales rep. Even though nothing on my resume is even remotely related to sales, insurance, or anything financial.

 

[AlmightyMagichan]

I had a small phone interview with a company not too long ago that sounded very suspicious. It ended up going something like this.

Lady: With our training program the senior leads will train you personally. Then once you've started building your own client base, you'll begin training the next new hires.
Me: Is this an MLM thing?
Lady: No this not an MLM or pyramid scheme or anything of the sort.
Me: This sounds a lot like it. Do the senior trainers get a portion of my income once I set up my client base?
Lady: I'm sorry you feel that way. Goodbye.

Yeah, I'm guessing the answer to my question was yes.

 

[Jean ValJean]

Two other MLMs that I forgot about because it was so long ago.

About 20+ years ago, my wife and I got sucked into going to some kind of event that turned out to be a sales pitch to join a "club" where you get to buy furniture, appliances, and other high-end items at prices "way below wholesale." Can't for the life of me remember the name of it, but the cult-like vibe of it freaked my wife out so we left.

Back in the 90s when the Internet was just becoming a thing and the majority of people had dial-up, I had a guy who I had been in the army with try to get me into an MLM where you sold phone cards to people (can't remember the name of it either). It was the whole pitch about making tons of money, being your own boss, etc. Having been pitched by Amway people several times by then, I saw the red flags immediately and asked him politely, but firmly to leave.

 

[FrigginWeeb]

I gotta ask do these fuckers look through business registrations for recruitment? Back when I started my own freelance pc repair thing, I would get 3+ calls from amway and others a week.

 

[Kiwi Lime Pie]

Two other MLMs that I forgot about because it was so long ago.

About 20+ years ago, my wife and I got sucked into going to some kind of event that turned out to be a sales pitch to join a "club" where you get to buy furniture, appliances, and other high-end items at prices "way below wholesale." Can't for the life of me remember the name of it, but the cult-like vibe of it freaked my wife out so we left.

Might it have been the Discount Home Shopping (DHS) Club? A long gone site (but thankfully archived) chronicles how notorious DHS Club members were for sending spam in an attempt to recruit suckers additional members. Sadly, someone I was acquainted with at that time was a member, but they thankfully never tried recruiting me. It looks like the organization is may still be operating under the name Clubshop.

I gotta ask do these fuckers look through business registrations for recruitment? Back when I started my own freelance pc repair thing, I would get 3+ calls from amway and others a week.

I think all sorts of telemarketers and other shady folks troll through business registrations as a way to identify prospects. A friend's husband had a business entity he registered but never used/publicized and he'd always get calls about that business name. I've also had telemarketers try to pitch me goods and services that are unnecessary all because I registered a business tame solely for tax purposes. So, it's possible that MLM folks might try using the same information. At the same, though, it makes it easy to know that such calls are most likely not for a legitimate reason.

 

[Room Temp Shrimp]

My first interview after my last job turned out to be an mlm of the most disgusting order. It was selling "health insurance" I shit you not. I got all dressed up for it too. It was horror.

If you sold enough you'd go up the associate ladder. Bronze, silver, gold, and at platinum you'd get a cool Louisville Slugger bat for....some reason. That's if you got enough old people to give you a chunk of their life savings for a company that was NOT a health insurance company. I was highly offended for everyone involved, to include myself. Of course, you'd get a % of your sales.

This was incredibly depressing for a first interview, but I got a REALLY nice job after that I've been with since. Whew. I've worked on my education since then, hoping I never go through that again.

 

[Jean ValJean]

Might it have been the Discount Home Shopping (DHS) Club? A long gone site (but thankfully archived) chronicles how notorious DHS Club members were for sending spam in an attempt to recruit suckers additional members. Sadly, someone I was acquainted with at that time was a member, but they thankfully never tried recruiting me. It looks like the organization is may still be operating under the name Clubshop.

I believe this was it. Thanks!

 

[Picklechu]

I gotta ask do these fuckers look through business registrations for recruitment? Back when I started my own freelance pc repair thing, I would get 3+ calls from amway and others a week.

Business records, website registrations, basically any data they can get their hands on. The spam box on the email I used to use for consulting on political campaigns still gets MLM stuff, "graphic designers" and "marketing consultants" from India, and "Henlo dear we have shut down you're Amazon Paypal plese cilck link to reactivate plese" on a daily basis.

My first interview after my last job turned out to be an mlm of the most disgusting order. It was selling "health insurance" I shit you not. I got all dressed up for it too. It was horror.

All MLMs suck, but I hate the financial/insurance ones the most (alongside the ones that make the salespeople buy their own inventory). Not only do they use the normal MLM tactics, but I've seen them do shit like try to get someone to roll over their 401(k) into an annuity. I'm generally against protecting people from their own stupidity beyond a certain point, but I wish there was some sort of legislation cracking down on MLMs.

 

[Neighborhood Curmudgeon]

My only MLM encounter was Vector Marketing a long time ago. I was looking for work and noticed one of their open positions. I didn't expect them to contact me two hours later for an interview the next day. Their main local office was in a multipurpose office building. When I got there, their recruiter/interviewer wanted me to fill out an application. It felt a little embarassing because there were two teenage guys also filling out the same application. I wondered what I had gotten myself into.

Prior to this experience, I had never heard of Vector Marketing. Their job posting was vague, but still made a big deal about making lots of money. That's what lured me because I was desperate back in those days.

As for the interview? At first, the interviewer was friendly, but I quickly got on his bad side when he realized I wasn't interested in the job after he revealed how it worked. I was expecting a relatively normal wage slave job. Instead it's a commission-only job where you have to buy the prodect your selling. The interview actually said, "Well if you're not interested, then you know we don't actually need you." Rather than being insulted, I actually agreed with him and left disappointed. Not disappointed because I didn't get the "job," but because it turned out to be the stupidest thing I ever applied for.

I will thank them for this: They made me aware of MLM companies and their bullshit schemes.