Should I be worried about a friend joining an MLM if...

[Summerbreezes]

She says it's just a hobby or side project because she's always loved the products. She said she's keeping her day job.

Is it going to stay that way or should I be worried?

Because I've seen their bank statement.. they use it as a sales tactic to get you to join ..

I have employed two people recently. Admittedly it was PAYE, paid annual leave and pension benefits. I didn't show them my bank statement - how utterly weird.

It’s funny you should say that gubbsy. Someone tried to recruit me into an MLM scheme. She told me that her upline showed her she some bank statements, which I suspected was a clumsy attempt to reel me in. I didn’t believe that she’d seen her upline’s statements at all. I wasn’t surprised when her upline (who was a so-called manager with this MLM) left the MLM a few months later because she wasn’t making much money out of it.

Even if someone is showing you bank statements (which is a pretty desperate thing to do) how do you know they’ve not been doctored? It’s easy to scan things into photoshop and alter a few figures here and there. The only way of checking out someone’s claims is to have a look at their accounts - many of which are prepared by accountants and are publicly available on Companies House.

I suspect many people involved in MLMs don’t tell HMRC about it.

@Bezalelle

I get that mine is a complicated position. I'm not sure that paying £10-15 retail once every year or two is propping up a company

Every little helps.

I don't want to join so I don't care ... I have always thought of pyramid schemes as a bit icky so there is no want id do one anyway shape or how but I'm saying some do make money . This particular person is a good friend and I know it's true as there have been lots of holidays etc... I'm pleased for her as she has changed her life but of course it will dry up eventually .. I think as long as the exposure is zero and you need money what have you got to lose ?
I would hate to lose friends over it though as basically you sell stuff to all your friends 🙄

MLM victims end up losing a lot. They have to buy product to demonstrate and to remain active, so they lose money. They have travel and "training" expenses too. They lose friends because of their pestering on social media and in person. They lose their honesty as they fake it to make it.