To think my friend is being scammed?

[chesarasara]

She’s been trying to get me to join her work from home business for a while and after looking into it for a bit I’ve politely but firmly said no. But she won’t let it drop asking why I won’t join her and now I’ve bluntly told her that I think the whole thing is a pyramid scheme style scam and she’s throwing her money away.

We’ve been good friends for years but she has changed so much since she joined this MLM business 6 months ago. Constantly posting inspirational memes on FB and boasting about how much money she’s making. But I know she’s lying as my DH and her DH are also friends and he’s confided how much debt they are in. I’m both so worried for her and worried that our friendship won’t survive if I don’t fork out the £200 for the business in a box and join her.

[sminkypink]

Its dangerous, don't go near it, our investigation via these boards, has uncovered the following from mostly FL but other mlm scams:
x factor style rags to riches sob stories
showy Facebook posts that are thin on truth - i.e. a shit ton of nauseating inspirational memes, photos of beaches she has never been to, cars she doesn't own. Nothing about the actual business, because if it was explained truthfully, you'd laugh then run.
reps who have moved to big, showy, houses, but they turn out to be only rented.
reps who hire things (such as hot tubs) and pretend they have bought them, then post to Facebook in order too show off.
big flash cars which are only leased.
reps who claim to have a six figure income, yet their ltd company report filings show that they are actually earning peanuts. (go and search on Endole for 'Aloe' if you want a laugh, more ltds with zero turnover than you can shake a stick at.
actors paid to stand on stage and pretend to be managers and 'receive' giant cheques.
the handful (and I'm talking counting on one hand here) who claim to have got rich off this scam, when they are selling brainwashing mindset training downloads at over 40 pounds a pop - that's where the money is, fleecing those who you sucker in.
reps buying 100's of pounds of toiletries every month that they dont need, as a personal send because otherwise they will get demoted. they are banned from offloading it on ebay for instance,
reps saying they earn x amount a month but conveniently forgetting to deduct the expenses - loads of 'stock' that no one wants, brainwashing downloads, 30 quid crappy 'planners', all day brainwash meetings where the shitty company wont even stump up for a damn coffee. weekend meetings, phone calls, website fee, coffees for people you want to lure in, petrol. No wonder thewy are skint!
So: to all of you who say you have a friend who is ''doing really well with it'', you can't be sure. They may be kidding themselves on. It may be all being stuck on a credit card, bankrolled by a husband. You have no way of knowing.
its nasty, can destroy families, relationships, friendships.
if you read the book 'Merchants of deception' (its available as a free ebook download) you will recognise all of this bullshit that your friend is spouting, its identical. I hope your friend comes to hger sensesm, it wil be hard as she will be brainwsashed to keep going as success will be ' just around the corner.' truth is, it won't.

[Dec2015]

I don't think utility warehouse is a scam if you're customer. It has some network marketing element to it though.

[Siwi]

It's a terrible scam that costs huge amounts of money to be part of.
Not to mention losing friends.
Some friends and family will buy initially, as an act of charity.

The really sinister aspect is the cultish allegiance that fl pp have to their bizarre scheme, in the face of all reason, logic and evidence.

Anyone who tries to save them is deemed a 'negative influence' in exactly the same way that pp who oppose Scientology are deemed to be 'suppressive persons'.

Please spread the word about this scam, ESPECIALLY new mothers.

Personally, I swear by TimelessVie. Pm me if you want to find out more.

[FATEdestiny]

It's quite difficult to know where the line us drawn in MLM

What about Avon? You make the 'big money' in Avon by recruiting and managing a team if distributors.

The same can be said of Kleeneze or betterware - in both while you can make pocket money selling to the end user, the real money is made recruiting other distributors and managing your 'downline'

[Ta1kinPeece]

FATE
ANY system where the money is made on fees from resellers rather than actual profit on sales
is a pyramid scheme
and should be avoided if you want a real decent lifestyle

[FATEdestiny]

Avon is so mainstream though...

[Ta1kinPeece]

Avon is indeed mainstream.
Its also dying on its arse
THe share price has been steadily falling for the last 5 years

[neepsandtatties]

So is Arbonne one of these scams? Have a FB friend who has been to Las Vegas recently to one of their glitzy rallies. I got the impression it was paid for by the company a a 'reward', but I guess it is possible she paid for it herself. Does anyone know?

[sminkypink]

yep arbonne is one

[lazycoo]

If the MLM requires you to pressurise people to join your team then it is unsustainable and unethical.

[sminkypink]

theres that bloody awful pan one (they are based near me in N London) they target poor inner city families who have never learned to cook healthy food from scratch - salad master. They fleece you for nearly a grand for a set of cooking pans, by implying you your own pans are poisoning you.
the evil gits have suckered in my friend.

[FATEdestiny]

Food for thought Talkin, I've never really thought of Avon as a MLM in the same league as FL

Neeps, my neighbour is doing Arbornne, it's definitely MLM. Indeed she unashamedly tells you it is how great MLM is.

She previously spent several years fairly high up in Kleeneze by recruiting and managing through 'network marketing'. I hadn't realised she was MLM at that time.

It all ended very suddenly and she moved on to telling you how great Arbonne is

[sminkypink]

and if they want nearly 20 quid for a poxy duo eyeshadow where the packaging is so cheap they couldn't even stretch to a mirror in the case, then its a scam.

[FreakinScaryCaaw]

Arbonne is the one my cousin tried to get me to sell.

[specialsubject]

'make money fast' schemes arrived with the internet, and the purveyors of overpriced doorstep tat have been doing it much longer. Don't forget the expensive plastic box lot, going for decades!

don't be a sucker. Those who have been need to have the guts to admit their mistake, not try to infect others.

[abbsismyhero]

avon works at christmas and sometimes you make money before the holidays

forever living....i know ONE person who makes money off it and she has people working for her all over the globe its how she makes her money by recruitment she is not rolling in it but she makes more that she did as a teacher and it works for her

i do use the forever living products i have no end of friends who start up and then drop out after 6 months of trying i usually try to support them as soon as one falls down bang up goes another with a newsfeed of an "amazing opportunity"

[MazzleDazzle]

My fb newsfeed was full of Forever Living memes, so I 'unfollowed' each poster. What a relief! Felt a bit guilty, as the most prominent poster was a close friend. It was like she'd been completely brainwashed. It was embarrassing how often she tried to sell products/recruit people. I made it clear I wasn't interested. She became friends with the other cult members and stayed away from anyone who wasn't willing to support her new business.

A few months down the line and she's almost back to normal. I even started 'following' her again and don't dread spending time with her.

With any luck OP, your friend will come out of the other end too.

[ABetaDad1]

Some franchise operations are also scams. Not all but some are.

They also are 'sold' to people who are at a vulnerable stage of their life. The typical franchise buyer is someone who has just been made redundant with a lump sum payoff. They buy a franchise with the lump sum and put their house up as security to buy a commercial premises to run it from.

The franchise system also runs as a pyramid with national and regional franchisees managing a series of local franchise operators. The local franchise operators typically earn little money and many end up losing a lot of money while the regional and national franchisees earn the franchise fee the local franchisors are forced to pay. The regional franchisees are incentivised to sign up as many local franchise operators as possible.

[Ta1kinPeece]

special
'make money fast' schemes arrived with the internet,
Ponzi long predated the internet
419 letters predate the internet
phone scams predate the internet

there have always been gullible people who think that there is such a thing as a free lunch

[pieceofpurplesky]

A friend went to Vegas with Arbonne. Her FB page made it look like a freebie however I know she paid over £2,000 for 4 nights (no food) ...

[Ta1kinPeece]

One of my clients "won" a trip to Vegas with some company or other.
I saw his bank statements.
It cost him full whack.

[thenightsky]

I lost a good friend to Amway. I sent him links to Merchants of Deception (as mentioned upthread). He wouldn't read it. They got him brainwashed

[liinyo]

I love FL products. I buy them regularly from a relation that gives a great family discount. However one friend joined them in the summer and I have now blocked her on FB as the constant stream of promotional posts were irritating. She set up,one FB group and over half the members opted out within a week indicating I wasn't the only one feeling used.