Know Anyone Involved In A Scam?

A couple of my dumbass fraternity brothers have been selling and recruiting for Ignite/Stream energy for a few years now. If you aren't familiar with the company, it's a pyram...ER...MLM firm that sells energy in deregulated states. Now they've taken to posting "inspirational" videos on youtube, which are as awful as you would expect.

So, does anyone else have some shameless acquaintances that are worthy of mention?

 

My Facebook has become a constant stream of Isagenix, It Works, Young Living Oils and occasional other random products. Apparently as women get past 30 and have kids it becomes more appealing to attempt to make money by bombarding social media with posts about your AWESOME PRODUCTS.

My favorite is the "online parties" where my neighbor sells purses. She doesn't even go out and host an actual party. It seems to just be people sending her an order..........terrible party if you ask me.

twitter: @CorpFin_Guy
 
accountingbyday:

Apparently as women get past 30 and have kids it becomes more appealing to attempt to make money by bombarding social media with posts about your AWESOME PRODUCTS.

Ha, so true. I get this in my feed from time to time and it's always the same demographic peddling this garbage. Over 30, female, with kids.

 
labanker:
accountingbyday:
Apparently as women get past 30 and have kids it becomes more appealing to attempt to make money by bombarding social media with posts about your AWESOME PRODUCTS.

Ha, so true. I get this in my feed from time to time and it's always the same demographic peddling this garbage. Over 30, female, with kids.

I consider that a bit different though. I have a cousin (ironically in Big 4 in DC) who peddles beachbody and shakeology stuff in her spare time. While the facebook posts are...a bit much, she's at least actually selling exercise dvds and shake...things. It's not a MLM from the looks of it. Just a "brand ambassador"

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 
accountingbyday:

My Facebook has become a constant stream of Isagenix, It Works, Young Living Oils and occasional other random products. Apparently as women get past 30 and have kids it becomes more appealing to attempt to make money by bombarding social media with posts about your AWESOME PRODUCTS.

My favorite is the "online parties" where my neighbor sells purses. She doesn't even go out and host an actual party. It seems to just be people sending her an order..........terrible party if you ask me.

say what you want - essential oils work. Being serious.

 

It's nice to be at the top of a pyramid scheme. I seriously doubt she's making that much though... maybe in "perks" that are basically loans given by the company to create an image wealth.

 

Finally got fed up with this kid in my old hometown and his trophy GF trying to sign their friends up under Vemma/Verve MLM and wrote up a post that I shared on FB. This kid was rich enough to burn the money needed to grow his "base", and the last straw was when one of them posted that Jordan Belfort would be their keynote speaker at their annual conference.

Here is a link to the photo and my post...it's a little rant-y but I was so sick of them tricking these kids into scamming each other.

We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us. - Charles Bukowski
 
hakuna.matata:

Finally got fed up with this kid in my old hometown and his trophy GF trying to sign their friends up under Vemma/Verve MLM and wrote up a post that I shared on FB. This kid was rich enough to burn the money needed to grow his "base", and the last straw was when one of them posted that Jordan Belfort would be their keynote speaker at their annual conference.

Here is a link to the photo and my post...it's a little rant-y but I was so sick of them tricking these kids into scamming each other.

link didn't work. your fb is prob on private?
 

bummer, thought I had made the photo Public. I will post a screenshot.

We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us. - Charles Bukowski
 

College Works summer house painting internship. They got every single freshman's numbers via the school bank, and they recruit for their "selective internship where you make at least $9,000 a summer" by calling EVERY LAST ONE. They're on their fourth call to me now, and I just blocked their number. I've heard countless horror stories, but as with every other scam, the people recruiting/higher on the chain can make decent money.

 

ACN. High school dropouts from my town drive across the country just to go to these stupid conferences and post shit on FB about retiring at 25 and all of the empty promises that they make about retiring their suffering parents as well. It makes me sick but nobody in their direct network is educated enough to tell them anything differently.

Verve was popular as well. It seems like the same crowd transitioned from one MLM to another.

 

Some shit called WorldVentures. Apparently these kids are all convinced that they can own a BMW and travel the world essentially for free, and they have team names like "#teamnosleep" to get them amped about recruiting more people.

Apparently none of them read the income disclosure released by the company itself which states in very clear English that 77.5% of their people made ZERO money in the 2013 year. Of course, if you ask, they'll tell you that the numbers improved so much in 2014.

 
evilmindbulgaria:

People I know did Vemma, stopped spamming within 6 months of talking about empires and whatnot

A guy from my high was hooked on that all throughout his senior year, made videos about how much he was making, and told everyone he was going to be living the high life. Three months later, a friend of mine was looking to buy a graphing calculator off craigslist, and he is going to meet some guy in a Target parking lot to get it. It's the Vemma guy selling a (likely) stolen graphing calculator for $40. A year after this he was in prison for selling drugs to a girl who ODed. He really made it to the top.

 

I remember a couple of kids doing this freshman year. One of them looks like he's doing well for himself, but he probably got out very early on. I also remember reading an article in a school paper (Penn State I want to say?) that was about this kid that 'made it big,' Gucci loafers bought on credit. Payday lending is a better business than this.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

This kid who lived a few doors down from me used to mail fake fines to people, telling them they had been caught pirating music and movies. Every once in a while he would get a check/money order in the mail for a couple hundred bucks.

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."
 
big f-ing deal:

This kid who lived a few doors down from me used to mail fake fines to people, telling them they had been caught pirating music and movies. Every once in a while he would get a check/money order in the mail for a couple hundred bucks.

Well that certainly goes from "scam" straight to SCAM

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

In my junior year of college, I was broke as hell. An old buddy from high school reached out to me saying his company was hiring, Vector Marketing. An hour later, I got a phone call from his manager for an interview that very same day. I was pretty pumped to have an opportunity to put some extra cash in my pockets. I was in between classes so I didn't have the time to do any research on the company. As soon I was done with classes, I put on a suit and sped off to the interview. As soon as I walked in the front door I realized I had made a horrible mistake. I was sitting in a rundown office building with a bunch of high school drop outs learning how to sell CUTCO KNIVES. Here I am with my resume and suit watching some random dude cut a penny with kitchen shears feeling like a total dumbass, and the girl next to me is in Uggs twirling her hair. During a brief intermission, I just walked out.

 
GoW:

Let us compare our new WSO layout with this one http://www.plexum.com/index.html

I am starting to feel the need to recruit new users!!!

this is amazing. it's like running into a mistress of @"wallstreetoasis.com"

>Incoming Ash Ketchum, Pokemon Master >Literally a problem, solve for both X and Y, please and thank you. >Hugh Myron: "Are there any guides on here for getting a top girlfriend? Think banker/lawyer/doctor. I really don't want to go mid-tier"
 

I hate these MLM schemes more than anything. I just find it very snake oil salesmen like when you can make more money recruiting people, than actually selling product. You gotta respect the hustle though.

Primerica is similar to this in the financial services industry.

 
DickFuld:

What kind of fucking weirdos do you guys hang out with? Is this a generational difference? All I remember were pink Cadillacs back in the day.

Social media, Dick. It gives you updates on all of the weirdos you would otherwise ignore

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 
CRE:
DickFuld:
What kind of fucking weirdos do you guys hang out with? Is this a generational difference? All I remember were pink Cadillacs back in the day.

Social media, Dick. It gives you updates on all of the weirdos you would otherwise ignore

Presumably, there's a way to ignore them, even on social media.
 
Best Response
DickFuld:

What kind of fucking weirdos do you guys hang out with? Is this a generational difference? All I remember were pink Cadillacs back in the day.

I'm about a generation or less below you and most people who are talking about their friends doing this are a generation below me, but I just don't get this. Pink Caddies or Avon ladies are one thing but all of these schemes just seem obvious. Although I have to admit when I occasionally check facebook there are multiple women around my age peddling weird shit and making it seem as though they're selling the next messiah. Primarily moms who stopped working for kids who trying to do something while they still have young kids.

I'm just not quite sure why a high school or college kid thinks this could work. Just get a job-I think far less, really far, far less, of someone for falling for a dumb scheme rather than getting a real job. A so called stupid pre-professional high school or college job. Work in a grocery store. Wait tables. Work on the line in a kitchen. Tend bar. Something where you can actually make money and sweat. I came from a less than advantaged background and started working very young so maybe I'm the exception but when I interview younger people I ask about jobs that they don't list on resumes. I like when I hear someone did shit jobs in high school, or worked their way through undergrad scooping shit at a farm (I actually hired a guy who did that because well, fuck...), or waited tables to make ends meet in college.

 

Speaking of the devil, this shit just came up on my FB feed from some kid who's currently falling prey to ACN:

____ Davis 4 hrs I'm Willing To Put My Head Down Right Now And Put In Work And Make Sacrifices At The Age Of 19 And My Early 20's So That By The Time I'm In My Late 20's I Can Be In A Position To Retire My Parents And Live The Lifestyle Of A Vice President With Absolutely No Worries And Be Financially Free For The Rest Of My Life. ‪#‎YMFM‬ ‪#‎MyVision‬ ‪#‎IWillRetireMyParents‬ ‪#‎RetireMyselfByTheAgeOf30‬

Posted a picture of a Porsche yesterday captioned "No Questions Asked I Will Have This By The Time Im 21!"

I have lost all faith in humanity.

 

I had a cousin tell me he was earning $30,000 a month selling consumer products to people.

I did a double-take.

I told him I really wouldn't know what to do with all of that money and was pretty happy earning whatever I earn (I didn't tell him what) and spending $2000/month on PBR, ramen, and rusty honda parts.

He did a double-take. And stopped trying to sell me on Amway (thank goodness).

 

Thought MLM schemes were a thing of the past and people understood it was BS. Unfortunately, it appears it's still going.
Another one is Lioness. These guys have managed to disguise themselves quite well, as they try to promote themselves as some Groupon kind of company. Was surprised how well known investors openly challenged Ackman on his thesis about HLF. Then again, I was surprised it was listed in the NYSE in the first place. Why on earth are regulators not after MLMs? I mean, they managed to put huge fines on banks etc. yet these shady outfits appear to remain untouched.

Colourful TV, colourless Life.
 

I've got a former classmate who is crazy into the Arbonne MLM scam. She's constantly posting overly enthusiastic facebook updates talking about how much she loves her job, how Arbonne is god's gift to the earth, and how people change their lives with their cosmetics.....coupled with (literally) 20 or more hashtags in each post.

 

a girl who'd banged a ton of guys convinced a guy that she had testing clean for STDs and that he didn't need a condom

pretty bad scam imo

Make Idaho a Semi-Target Again 2016 Not an alumnus of Idaho
 

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Make Idaho a Semi-Target Again 2016 Not an alumnus of Idaho
 

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