Regulators Asked to Investigate Herbalife
Pyramid Scheme Alert has sent an official request letter to to the United States Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Acting Director of the Consumer Protection Bureau asking that the agency initiate an investigation of the multi-level marketing company, Herbalife. The letter included a statistical analysis of the actual payments made by Herbalife to “Supervisors”, the upper...
Read MoreMLM Trade/Lobbying Group’s Defense of Herbalife Challenged
Pyramid Scheme Alert has called into question the basis for and the ethical standards of the Direct Selling Asssociation’s (DSA) defense of the multi-level marketing company, Herbalife. The DSA’ s president, Joseph Mariano, issued a statement in March that a request for an FTC investigation of Herbalife by the National Consumers League and various Wall Street financial companies...
Read MoreWhat’s Your Herbalife Story?
Herbalife is at the center of headline news stories right now. Major investors are calling Herbalife a “pyramid scheme” and a money trap. They report that 99% of all who sign up never make a profit. They say the products are overpriced and most people join up in the hopes of making money in the Herbalife pay plan, not just to get the products. And they say that few Herbalife...
Read MoreWall Street Investor Accuses Herbalife of Running Pyramid Scam
In a remarkable new development, a major Wall Street Hedge Fund has entered the movement to reveal the truth about multi-level marketing. Aiming at one of the MLM industry’s icon’s, Herbalife, Hedge Fund owner, Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management, delivered a 300+ slide presentation to top investors and analysts. He charged that Herbalife is an illegal pyramid scheme....
Read More2012 Round-Up: Crimes, Misdemeanors and Charges in Multi-Level Marketing
In 2012, there were several publicized events that, along with other similar events over the least several years, indicate pervasive fraud in the multi-level marketing field and call out for a new and comprehensive investigation of this industry by regulators at the FTC, SEC, state Attorneys General and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): Medifast Diet Deceptions: In September ,...
Read MoreJudge: Whistle Blower Can Call Nu Skin a Pyramid Scheme
A state judge in Utah modified an earlier decision and now has ruled that a prominent Nu Skin whistle-blower is legally allowed to call that company an illegal pyramid scheme, based on the whistle-blower’s analysis, direct experience and knowledge of the Nu Skin business. The ruling is a victory for free speech and a setback for Nu Skin. An earlier court ruling had imposed a prohibition on...
Read MoreNu Skin Facing the Ultimate Whistle-Blower
According to investigative journalists and corporate intelligence professionals, multi-level marketing (MLM) companies are unique in the business world for extreme secrecy, a “need to know only” communication network, and a strict code of silence toward outsiders. Ex-employees and ex-distributors seldom have useful information, often admitting they know nothing about the...
Read MoreIs Wall Street Waking Up To MLM’s Flawed Business Model?
A highly unusual event occurred in May, 2012 that drastically affected businesses and individuals who invest in the stocks of multi-level marketing (MLM) companies. A hedge fund manager – who is famous for rigorous research, uncanny insight into future trends and for selling ”short” the companies that he thinks are unsustainable – publicly asked a few pointed questions about the...
Read MoreHalf of Amway’s Products Are Retailed. Really! Plus Other Wacky Numbers
In a recent video interview with Amway executives, Doug DeVos and Steve Van Andel, a Wall Street Journal reporter asked them a probing and revealing question. In fact, before the interview, the reporter for the Wall Street Journal emailed Pyramid Scheme Alert to ask for questions to pose to Amway’s top executives. The question that Pyramid Scheme Alert recommended and that was asked was,...
Read MoreNewspaper Series Explores Cult Connection to MLM, NXIVM
The lethal combination of cult and pyramid in a multi-level marketing company was vividly explored in a recent newspaper series on the multi-level marketing company, NXIVM (pronounced like the acid reflux “purple” pill). The four-part series in the Albany Times Union by James M. Odato and Jennifer Gish chronicles lawsuits, accusations of sexual abuse of female members, legal harassment...
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