My older brother, who has been swindled by MLM (multi-level marketing) scams in the past, has gotten involved in yet another. Have any of you dealt with a family member in this situation? Is there anything I can do, or do any of you have suggestions on how to cope with this? [more inside]
posted by catfood on Jan 3, 2007 - 31 answers

How can I tell a legitimate sales marketing company from a pyramid scheme? [more inside]
posted by nebulawindphone on Sep 23, 2005 - 12 answers

My aunt just sent me an e-mail linking to a site she set up for "Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing". Before I even brought the home page up, it felt quite a bit like Herbalife and other pyramid schemes just from reading the e-mail. Indeed, one of the first links on Google is a scam.com message board. To save me having to sort through thousands of Fortune Marketing pages on google, does anyone have any personal experience with this company or any information my aunt should be aware of? [more inside]
posted by Eideteker on Jan 16, 2005 - 1 answer

What is the lowdown on USANA? A friend of mine swears its great, but seems like a big scam to me... anyone had any experience with this sort of thing? Website is vague and pyramid-scammish.
posted by ac on Aug 16, 2004 - 9 answers

My mother has gotten herself involved in this ACN thing, whose 'opportunity' page just stinks of pyramid scheme. (Her current significant other has history with another so-called 'internet business'.) I suppose I don't have a huge problem with this alone, but the pyramid effect has set in, and I'm now receiving calls applying not-so-subtle pressure to join in, help out, save on my bills, make money, the works. On top of this, she's also asking for contact info for friends, an obvious attempt at generating leads. So, two questions - first, I'm certain this ACN thing is a scam, and would like to show my mother this, but am having trouble finding concrete proof online... testimonials, news pieces, et cetera. Can someone assist me with this? And second, how do I tell my mother, in a respectful way, to lay off the frigging marketing already?
posted by danwalker on Aug 6, 2004 - 10 answers