MLM Bot Watch 27 - The Yazoo iis past iits use by date, but we have a massive #lardon: Tragiicomic cultiic wampum floggiing scamalangadiingdongs liike Forever Living, Ariix, Herbalife, Younique, Juice

[acatcalledjohn]

Still going strong here at bot watch HQ on MN!

Previous thread here

Botwatch on Wordpress and on Facebook

Timeless Vie on Wordpress and on Facebook

Eyespeying's Blog aka #manhun, even if he's been banned by MNHQ

Hommetepreneur on Facebook
www.lazymanandmoney.com/is-every-mlm-a-scam
We have our own regularly returning bots.

Glossary:

Bots: our affectionate name for victims of the MLM racket

MLM: Multi-level Marketing schemes - essentially pyramid schemes that are just legal because you sell a product. Reliant upon constant recruitment despite there not being enough people in the world to go beyond about 12 levels if everyone recruited 6.

Downline/Upline: the people you recruited and those who recruited you (going up and down the pyramid inverted funnel)

Timeless Vie: Parody of MLM schemes (though you might spot one in particular) that also carries out fearless investigative work. Flogging the amazing skinny lard and now carbonated lard. The arsenic is not the evil Victorian stuff. #TeamDannii #gettingalardon

Hommetrepreneur: also excellent parody site focussing on the menz

BotWatch: Rather more serious, keeps an eye on what the Bots are claiming next, particularly in reference to health and income claims. Also fearless.

Inverted Funnel: Timeless Vie is NOT a pyramid - it's an inverted Funnel, OK?

Eyes: Our former member Eyespying who knows LOTS about MLM schemes. He's still our very own #manhun.

Haha brilliant overload!

The MLM film with Kirsten Dunst looks great! I was watching the victoria Derbyshire programme on BBC2 this morning and they were doing a peice on internet dating scams. They interviewed a professor of something or other was obviously very well educated but who'd fallen for a scam and sent some guy on the net £140,000. The point of the interview was that anyone can get scammed. It would be amazing if they did a similar peice on MLM.

Those little cheques at the manor will be a little reward for something or an incentive. I make more than that in a couple of hours at a car boot to be honest. Dubai is where they will get their bonus cheques, if they've qualified.

I think you're right, Toobusy. People who have left mostly seem to want to crawl away to a quiet place while they try to heal.

I have such respect for those who manage to come onto these threads and tell their stories.

Are there any lurkers out there who might have been tempted to join an MLM scheme but have had second thoughts and / or would rather cut off their own bollocks after reading these threads?

Please come and say hello!

BS I was one of those. Not a lurker as I've mentioned it before but I can't believe I was nearly sucked in.

Lost another friend to Younique. It's bloody ridiculous that the woman who recruited her specifically targeted her saying that he daughter will benefit from having her at home all the time rather than being in nursery. Grrr she's added me to a page but I left and unfriended her (I don't know her personally, mum friend from a forum) I just can't take how many of these people are sucked in!

Any one of us could be sucked in - in some fashion or other - if the circumstances were just right and the persuasion just so.

It can happen to anyone Itsy. I had a close call because I knew people who on the surface appeared to be doing very well. Four of these people have since quit because they realised they were losing more money than they were making and weren't willing to listen to the top bots who assured them that success was only just around the corner. A dear friend of mine said she could more money standing on a corner and told her upline to sod off!

Another friend of mine nearly got sucked in but swiftly changed her mind after finding these threads which led her to other avenues of investigation - Botwatch and Eyes' blog.

If someone has 65mins spare (I really don't), this YouTube vid could be interesting. 'Flicked' through it and there is a mention of a sign up fee (AUD25) and no product. Reviewing shit isn't exactly a product, so this does sound more like a pyramid.

I keep mis-reading aiirix as Airfix ... now that would be a business suited to mln !

Long time lurker sucked into FL a few years ago , managed to see through the cobblers fairly quickly but could see the attraction of belonging to the groups. Many intelligent people in the teams who suspended disbelief , and classic cult love bombing and exclusivity allures tokeep you wanting to be in .
Fairly broke at the moment so off to set up my Airfix Mlm ... super excited , superglued ...

Glad you saw through it, gin.

There doesn't actually seem to be a tangible product, acat.

A family member has become friends with a downline bot of Salon/Coffee/Very annoying bot. I saw her "downline" bot this morning in the School playground. Its the first time I have seen a bot in real life, and I couldn't take my eyes off her. She looks nothing like her profile, no make-up on, hair tied back etc. She looked like a normal harassed mum taking her two small children to School. My heart went out to her to be honest. My family member knows the score and told me the bot was into a "pyramid scheme", but has not mentioned a thing about it to her. I am being very wary as I know the way they play. I have told her how they have to be their own customer and end up forking out loads of money, I shall keep my wits about me. One thing I know she definitely does not want to be a stay at home mum, but her kids are now at School so this is worrying me. At least I am for warned, I now feel that this was the reason why I got into this group and Im very grateful to be in the know. #poweroftheuniverse.I will keep every1 updated if anything happens

It might be no bad thing to send your family member the link to Botwatch's people who care about you are worried, Annie. It might have her reading the rest of Botwatch or Timeless Vie, for example.

I know that you said she 'knows the score' but it's still very easy to persuade yourself that you're doing a 'good thing' by buying some goods. (You're not.) You said yourself that your heart went out to the woman in the playground?

With MLMs, you're really best to prevent the activity - if you can - before the whole thing gets into gear.

I don't know if this has been explained before but how did the fl couple afford to host the weekend at the manor for their team? I was looking at the website and the place isn't cheap to hire, then there is food, drink, entertainment etc. Have FL paid on their behalf or has it actually come out of their own pockets? Be interested to know how it works if anyone can tell me?

Cozie, thats whats worrying me. My family member seems to have her head screwed on and is adamant that she would never join a pyrimid scheme, but, as we know, no one is immune. They both have children the same age and my fm said that she started talking to the bot first, and they have made plans to go each others house and have a brew. She has said they can be friends without her joining up. I really hope that is what happens but I really doubt it. That is a good idea I will introduce her to the pages without being too obvious, as she did get a bit snappy with me when I tried to talk about it. I dont want to push her away. Wish me luck folks.

Lots of luck. Social and family/friendship obligations can be the very devil. Along with the 'J' word.

('I'm just helping a cousin/sister/daughter/friend/etc etc.' ' I'm not part of an MLM, I've just bought some X, Y or Z to help out' and so on. The justifications are legion at the start.)

Thanks Cozie, yes will tread very carefully. This is very close to home for me. I wasn't as close to my other fm and she seems to be out of it for a bit anyway, but if this fm gets involved it will be a different matter altogether. I might have to casually go round her house when they meet up and state a few facts if I need to.

Is this breaching the claiming medical benefits thing? I am also sick to death of seeing people's teeth right now...its so blindingly obvious they're using a yellow filter on their before pictures.

Matabalism??

Appitite?

Ok so maybe the bot who created it should have spell checked, We have a massive influx of actilab bots near me, at least 3 on my fb, all in the same team, all sharing the same photos, inc this one, I'm going mad, one of them is a real life friend, daughter has been v ill, but since daughter has been back at school shes been doing scheme after scheme after scheme, all except Avon that is. I'm not sure what she's doing because I literally cant keep up. another rl friend was doing Avon but then got actilabbed, she's just commented on sil's I need to lose weight status giving her the I have the perfect answer for you it'll cost you eleventy million dollars and quite possibly your soul . And there all pushing these gross looking noodles as diet food, that cost an absolute bomb. And the bloody yellow filter teeth pictures!!!

Achhh.

Scutt, yes that is a whole pile of dodgy health claims there breaking all sorts of laws. Please go to the ASA website and report it if it is on a British page. Can you tell where it is from geographically? It is quick and easy to report these.

Tupperwearlid. They do earn an awful lot of money and it will have come out of their own pockets. It's all for FB promotion and to make their down line feel special so they don't give up. And because they earn so much, they need a heck of a lot of expenses to put through to stop the tax man getting his hands on their money!!

Oh - and I'd say it breaches the medical claims provisions. (In the UK at least.) Maybe forward the picture to someone more experienced? (Botwatch or TV for example.)