Pyramid Scheme Pariahs

[AnchuentProphecy]

The Multi-level Marketing (MLM) community are a group of people on the internet that peddle their companies on YouTube and various websites. Companies such as Vemma, Amway, MonaVie and countless others all revolve around spending large amounts of cash on a product and recruiting others to do the same, Sound Familiar?

this thread is not about the scams themselves, but the people who have been brainwashed into recruiting others into the scam. If you have a Facebook account or any other form of social media account you probably know at least on person who does this. These people are all over the internet reviewing their scams or promoting it and desperately trying to recruit others into said scam. Examples on YouTube include:

The this is a scam, join my scam instead video

Complete denial

Typical motivational/brainwashing video

I'll update the OP as I get more Info

Thoughts and Experiances?

 

[Ouija Board]

Herbalife is like this too, in fact a lot of nutritional supplement companies are like this, a pyramid scheme. Thing is that Herbalife really doesn't work so well and I think they also got in trouble with the SEC over their stock. I can't seem to find that article right now though but yeah, most of these recruiters and salespeople are extremely pushy and aggressive. That is one of the reasons I chose not to continue with Nutrition & More because they peddle Herbalife.

 

[Trickie]

I fell for something similar once, although it wasn't a pyramid scheme thing, it was just some shady infomercial type stuff. I cancelled shortly after, when I looked it up, but they kept charging my card for a few months afterward.

These guys seem a bit more like a nightmare though. I'm glad I didn't get hooked into that sort of thing when I was young...

 

[Pikimon]

Some insurance thingy tried recruiting me too when I was 18ish with promises of free vacations and lots of money.

I responded with "lolno"

 

[AnchuentProphecy]

Herbalife is like this too, in fact a lot of nutritional supplement companies are like this, a pyramid scheme. Thing is that Herbalife really doesn't work so well and I think they also got in trouble with the SEC over their stock. I can't seem to find that article right now though but yeah, most of these recruiters and salespeople are extremely pushy and aggressive. That is one of the reasons I chose not to continue with Nutrition & More because they peddle Herbalife.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...utor-jumps-to-energy-drink-company-vemma.html

I heard about Herbalife being investigated, apparently a lot of Herbalife distributors are now jumping ship to Vemma.

 

[Beef Thunderpants]

Sounds like Motor Club of America as well:
http://ethanvanderbuilt.com/2013/06/21/mca-motor-club-of-america-is-a-scam-yes-it-is-in-my-opinion/

 

[Lefty's Revenge]

I got lured into one of these info sessions under the guise of a Bible study...


A Bible Study...

 

[c-no]

I got lured into one of these info sessions under the guise of a Bible study...


A Bible Study...

Oh my. Did they try to start of by saying "In the beginning, God gave our founder of Vemma an idea" or something like that? Seriously, a Bible Study. That would no doubt leave a bad taste in the mouths of Christians and non-Christians alike.

 

[Arkangel]

Yeah. This Vemma thing looks pretty much like a classic pyramid scheme.

Companies like this pretty much prey on ignorant people, and those who are desperate for work (like college students and those who have been laid off). They make most of their money by selling their products to their own "Sales Reps" (victims). The odd of making any sort of real money as a sales rep are extremely bad, and if you fail (and people usually do), it's all because "you didn't work hard enough".

I almost got myself involved in something similar to this: Kirby Vacuum Sales. A female friend convinced me to go to this seminar at a local hotel where they were training people to sell these really expensive (like almost $4000) vacuum cleaners. I stayed for one seminar. I did some research and found a whole bunch of horror stories online about people getting screwed over by Kirby sales reps. Stuff like lying about the pay, the nature of the work, being "independent contractors" instead of employees, etc. It just goes to show how these companies REALLY operate:Making a profit by chewing up and spitting out ignorant people who are just anxious for some work.

 

[Lefty's Revenge]

Oh my. Did they try to start of by saying "In the beginning, God gave our founder of Vemma an idea" or something like that? Seriously, a Bible Study. That would no doubt leave a bad taste in the mouths of Christians and non-Christians alike.

Like, the dude went to my church and he saw me at work and was like "hey man why dont you come over we're gonna have a bible study and just chill out etc etc." So I'm like "Sure." Because I was really trying to socialize with the people there. I get to the place and its in this random apartment I drove by like twice before walking up some dangerous stairs. I get inside theres like 5 of these motherfuckers living in this incredibly sparse apartment.

All of this strikes me as strange but as someone whos grown up in the church I can tell that basically every Christian worth their salt is at least somewhat weird.

I'm the first one there and they've got all this pizza and stuff which again, strange but doesn't quite set off any alarms. Bunch of other random and confused looking people come in and the dudes ask if anyone wants something to drink and they hand out this shit and finally the alarms start going off in my head.

Dude goes "hey everyone have a seat real quick." and this dude in fucking uniform walks out and I'm just like "for fucks sake..."

 

[AnchuentProphecy]

an old friend contacted me out of the blue on Skype to try and recruit me into this. I did the research and found out that it was a pyramid scheme and just ignored him. then on Facebook and some other people in on the scam were not shutting up about it saying you can become millionaires quick and get free BMWs it got so bad I had to remove him from my Facebook. These people are practically brainwashed and will defend the scam with the most idiotic points.

 

[Artard]

One of the best things about following Casey Serin was that he was the canary in the coalmine for the newest scams and pyramid schemes. That kid would send away (borrowed!) money for anything.

This was one of the best. A college... devoted to real estate... with MLM-style recruitment. I think you had to convince 3 people to enroll (which was I think around $16k) before you collected at all. And of course you had to be one of the marks yourself, and "enroll" for $16k of your own money too. Eventually they were shut down.

It's almost pointless to learn the names of the scams, and it's mostly the same "network" of scamtards moving from con to con. Here's the latest one that Casey's old associates are involved with. They love giant checks which are not actually giant checks (read the fine print if the ratty flipflops didn't give it away).

Spoiler: gauranteed!

 

[Butta Face Lopez]

I actually went for a job interview many years ago for what I later found out was the same knife company Chris briefly worked for.

By the middle of the interview I knew what it was and had decided against it, but decided to finish the interview anyway just out of politeness...while Chris paid for knife sets to harass his family and their friends to buy amazing knives and scissors that can cut pennies.

 

[plautistic]

Spoiler: gauranteed!

I also find "Hurricane Arthur" suspect.

I've never been involved in high-pressure sales (other than of course working in a company with a really annoying sales department), but stuff like this fascinates me. The recurring structures (x key points, a highly developed argot, etc.) are all really eerie.

A friend from college called me once promoting some kind of "lawyer insurance" scheme and I felt really bad for refusing to buy in. I think it was worse, though, that this was the only reason he contacted me in the first place. I'm glad I didn't fall for it.

P.S. - the last video from the OP briefly shows the following as "research and development." I'm pretty sure it doesn't look like someone adding GHB to their energy drink. Although, maybe that's what they really do?

Spoiler: R & D

 

[SU 390]

I'm not going to see the video because I was almost lured into some shit like this last year. They're no different from Vector and Avon(surprised that Avon is still operating). With Vector I received mail from them up until 2010 or 2011. How they got my info is still beyond me. The pay sounded great, but research and testimonials stopped me from calling. There were Vector recruiters at my college a few years ago trying to recruit. So yeah, I know how it works.

 

[Beef Thunderpants]

I actually went for a job interview many years ago for what I later found out was the same knife company Chris briefly worked for.

By the middle of the interview I knew what it was and had decided against it, but decided to finish the interview anyway just out of politeness...while Chris paid for knife sets to harass his family and their friends to buy amazing knives and scissors that can cut pennies.

My cousin actually did that one summer in high school. He had to do a minimum number of pitches so my mom just said to just put her down for the cheapest thing in the catalogue and not bother coming over.

 

[BatNapalm]

Reminds me of a similar pyramid scam. A dude in my engineering classes dropped out halfway through the semester to sell energy drinks (which were allegedly mentioned on some Oprah show and were endorsed by the Cleveland Cavs, which sounds like bullshit) after dropping some untold amount on a "starter kit." Why, he could even lease a new BMW through the company (though he had to sign for it himself)!

Needless to say, he tried to re-enroll a few weeks later and wasn't allowed. Oops, Spaghett.

 

[Bernd Lauert]

Funny how douche #3 in op's post is adamant about this scam not being a pyramid scheme and tries to prove it by drawing a... pyramid on his whiteboard.
Yeah, very convincing.

 

[pickleniggo]

Ohhh I hate MLM "companies".

Spoiler: TL;DR a lesson in MLM's and friendship

A few years ago I was job hunting after a move and a friend and former coworker contacted me out of the blue asking if I needed a job because she now worked "part time" for some insurance place and they were interested. She told me if I wanted she could pick me up and take me to the office on a Sunday (which was the first red flag - what kind of office is going to operate on a Sunday in the evening no less). It ended up being a "training center" for this MLM life insurance and finance place? I don't even know because every question I asked her "boss" was vague as hell and he just kept bringing up how much money I could make and all the things he can afford. Like I gave a rat's ass about his car and vacations. Basically I was expected to pay $300 for "training" (second red flag - YOU DON'T PAY FOR YOUR TRAINING) and then I would have to find my own clients, do my own work, and this company would take a hefty percentage of all the work I did. I wasn't to be paid hourly or salary - nope - I was paying my own commission on a non-existent "product".
The final straw was when this dude tells me that I have to "network" and list every name and phone number I had in my phone so he could call them and offer them whatever it was he was offering or "jobs" or whatever the fuck this dude was trying to sell. I looked at him right in the eye and told him I wouldn't do it because I wasn't comfortable and that sounded like soliciting. He immediately got annoyed and goes, "Well I guess we're done here." I guess so, dickbag.

It took me a day or two to realize that a week prior to my friend contacting me, I'd received a call from the same company asking if I was interested in working for them and I'd turned them down because the guy on the phone was way too eager to set me up with an "interview". I didn't put two and two together because at that point I had my resume online, but someone I thought to be my friend actually sold me out to this place and I was pissed. Clearly, she doesn't "work" with these people anymore but I can't help but be disappointed in the fact that she got caught up with them at all. And I'm STILL not clear on what it is that company "offers".

 

[BatNapalm]

I remember years ago I posted my resume online and got a bunch of different calls from shitty companies.

My rules of thumb for you younger people who are maybe just getting out into the workforce:

1.) If you get a call from a company you didn't apply for yourself, ask them if this is for a sales job. If they say yes, and they 100% will, hang up.
2.) If you get a call from a company that has "insurance" in the name, hang up.
3.) If you have to pay ANYTHING to work, it is a scam. Sounds obvious, but so many desperate people get suckered in by these and I don't understand it.
4.) If you hear the word "commission" hang the fuck up.

Also, here's a thought: if Vemma's products were worth fucking ANYTHING or were anywhere near as big as what they say they are: 1) why the fuck do they need to recruit impressionable kids to move the stuff? and 2) why don't they just cut the shit and sell it in, I dunno, retail stores and gas stations and 7-11s like real distributors do with Red Bull and Monster? Hmmmm?