ALERT - TOMMY THOMPSON “THE FED” IS AFTER YOU
31 Dec 2003 – The first shot is fired in the battle for your rights to have nutritionals in your possession. Our battle cry will be “I’ll only give up my pycnogel when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.” Yep instead of doing something sensible like requiring a big red warning label on Ma Huang (ephedra) the FDA banned it. To make it more dramatic and “Scary” the head of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tommy Thompson delivered the axe chop at nutritionals. UUUUhhhh Tommy isn’t HHS the Government Agency that promoted high carbo diets? The ones that made us all fat and now turning diebetics? Killing thousands montly! Now you want to start banning nutritionals one by one? UR Editor: The war is on ephedra is the first and the rest to follow! Detailed Report >>>>Len Clements (MarketWave Comments)
MLM IS GOOD - THESE DEALS AREN’T
30 Dec 2003 – Electronic Laboratories Newman Ga. Send them $48.90 to try out putting together electronic components. This is a new variation of the old jewelry assembly scam. No matter how good you do it they won’t pass inspection after you put the parts together and send it back. This one had a neat two step in it give them $16.95 and if you back out they still keep $6.95. No offer on web fill out form they mail. And here is one - ROFL $4@ for stuffing envelopes – just send your life savings! MLM looks innocent compared to all the scams out there!
CONSUMER1st CREDIT CARD SINKING?
29 Dec 2003 - Complaints that people are not making money from credit card system (not the first time for this #5 run aat making money on CC's). Also reports are that one of the V.P.’s is running nutritional program on the side.
INFOCUSINTERNATIONAL + PLANLINE.NET
29 Dec 2003 – Another Art type pyramid scheme that is ravaging the UK right now. Coming to U.S. soon! Low value psuedo art used to play a money game. Similar to Meridian Art money game that is now about dead. Meridian took much0 money out of U.S. This came from suckers promised big downlines from International expansion and then put U.S. guys at bottom. Double screw job! Expect same here!
GULF ARABS WARNED OF PYRAMID SCHEMES
29 Dec 2003 – Arab Gulf countries being hit by pyramid and ponzi schemes. The Watchdog has seen several hot offers coming out of this area that were so phoney that they amazed me. Beware of rich oil investments and gold schemes (just like the U.S.) http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=105475
MISSOURI AG NAILS 3 COMPANIES ON PYRAMID + PONZI
22 Dec 2003 – The Missouri AG nailed SharedProfit, Wellspring and Your Private Gold Mine on scam charges. All scams and not even remotely related to MLM (despite claims to the opposite). Ed. Note: Somebody must have had a little forewarning because they called your editor up trying to peddle the Shared Profit name list. Full details here>>>
TOP DISTRIBUTORS/OPS SAVE ANNASA!
21 Dec 2003 - Good News at the MLMWatchDog! No distributors on the street for xmas! Major manufacturer Natrol founded Annasa in 2002, investing approximately $3 million in the operations of Annasa since the founding of the business. Effective January 1, 2004, ANNASA International Corporation (AIC) will assume the operations of Annasa both domestically and internationally. AIC's operations will be managed by heroes David Armstrong and David Roudebush, who will serve respectively as AIC's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operations Officer. http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031219/195526_1.html
PARTY PLAN DISTRIBUTOR ARRESTED BY NARCS!
17 Dec 2003 – A Texas ex-school teacher busted by narcotics squad because of her product! This is the ultimate legal abuse by regulators of MLM! Ed. Note: Sounds like a great party plan where do I sign up!
NATROL SHUTTING DOWN ANNASA?
16 Dec 2003 – After only a year it appears that Natrol is shutting down it’s MLM subdivision Annasa (Greek for breath of life). This is probably because of management and a bad complan. In fact one thing I laughed at when I was first directed to their website was that the complan was in the PDF file backwards. The Back came up first and befuddled me and then the front came up. I don’t know how many people they chased away with that dumb trick! Sad day if this is true! More distributors on the street at Xmas! Darn!
MORE POLITICAL HUMOR -- FEED THE HOMELESS!
15 Dec 2003 – From Your response I think that all of you wanted a break from all the MLM bad news! Just one more bit of humor and I will get back to hammering scumbags and revealing MLM inside stuff! CLICK HERE IT’S A RIOT! >>>>>
THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO THE DOGS!
13 Dec 2003 – What a riot! Hit rage across America! Proof the government is going to the dogs! Click on link and look look in lower right hand corner for: Barney Cam II: Barney Reloaded - http://www.whitehouse.gov
MLM WOMEN RULE CHRISTMAS!
11 Dec 2003 -- The truth comes out why women rule christmas!
SHOCKING > YOUR FAT EDITOR MAKING COMBAT BROWNIES FOR SOLDIERS
XMAS URGENT HELP A SOLDIER - URGENT THIS MONTH
7 Dec 2003 -- Quick! We need to mail now to help soldiers in Iraq. Priority mail will work! Make your December better by helping your young troops overseas for holidays!
WARNING MALAYSIA PROMOTING MLM FOR INCOME
7 Dec 2003 -- Malaysia is promoting it's MLM companies to bring in money from foreign lands. They are setting up a training course for MLM direct sales companies. Until we see the results of regulation and training -- beware of Malaysian companies they are like the wild wild west! I love Malaysia and the people but they haven't quite gotten their MLM measurement standards up to par. http://www.emedia.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/20031205080009/Article/
MLM WATCHDOG ON RADIO
Saturday 6 Dec 2003 -- Today I will be on the Tom Chenault radio show 9 AM mountain time defending and promoting the MLM Industry here is the link to the live show.... http://www.tomchenault.com/
SHAKLEE FOR SALE
3 Dec 2003 -- Did the bombing of Shaklee scare the owners Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical? Strong word on the street but asking price is high 7x EBITDA. Wow! Bombing see 10 Oct 2003 -- story.
MLM HUMOR REAL PYRAMID
1 Dec 2003 -- Here is a real pyramid for you to play with. Big payoffs!
DATELINE REPORT ON PYRAMID SCHEME GIFTING SCAMS
29 Nov 2003 The NBC Dateline program last night was very interesting. It even had one accountant protesting that Gifting was people's right to make money and no one would be hurt. Man! It is a good thing she was arrested because the dummy could not run numbers! In this Sacramento gifting scheme (we reported on) the organizer had had 14 birthdays by reinserting herself into the program that many times and had cleared $184,000 dollars. So much for the charity angle! It also featured our arch enemy the dummy Robert Fitzpatrick who claims all MLM companies are pyramids. At least he didn't get chance to spout off his crap about real MLM companies!
DATELINE DOES PYRAMID SCHEME GIFTING PROGRAMS
28 Nov 2003 See your local TV guide. Friday the 28th 7 PM Central dateline will attack gifting programs. Gifting programs have scammed an estimated $500 million a year from Americans. They are the biggest Pyramid Schemes in the country and often missed because they are ran "On The Ground" at the local level. Individual Gifting Pyramid Schemes blanket the country in every state. Shaky Pyramidal companies disguised as MLM companies are a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of money lost in gifting programs. The UK is having so many problems that the Queen is addressing them! See below!
THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND AFTER PYRAMID SCHEME GIFTING PROGRAMS!
MORINDA DISTRIBUTORS UNDER ATTACK?
21 Nov 2003 -- The MLMWatchDog received written complaints and phone calls about Noni in Costco stores at $9.00 with a fancy carton included. Some said they suspected Morinda itself was doing it. Not so it turns out! Morinda's Noni manufacturer Aloe Commodities International ACI (Dallas) was making "Noni Naturally (NN)!" Then it turns out that ACI sold off ownership of NN to BioPharma. The sale gave ACI a minority ownership of BioPharma with over 200,000 shares of stock. Morinda is now starting to manufacture their own Noni! Ed. Note: What a mess!
NEW ZEALAND & AFRICA OVERRUN BY PYRAMID SCHEMES
LEXXUS FISHING IN U.S.?
17 Nov 2003 Lexxus International is paying a $2500 signup bonus to hitters if fly in and sign up. That is a lot less than Sun Rider did in 2002 at $25,000. Of course considering how big a flop Sun Rider had and the millions they put into that project, with Larry Thompson, it's better to gamble on the low side. Why do older U.S. companies do sign up bonuses? Because their U.S. sales are sagging!
MLM IS GOOD BILL GATES INTERNET PYRAMID SCHEME!
17 Nov 2003 - Not MLM thank heavens! New scam to get you to spam your friends!
NEW GOLD SCAM HITTING US! RUN!
13 Nov 2003 - Prime Goldbiz has worked its way into the U.S. It looks a lot like the old Gold Unlimited Binary plan that was shut down by the Feds! There are NO profit margins in gold it is a "commodity" so it is hard to mark up gold and sell it to customers! Prime GoldBank, a UK-based company is supposedly behind this one and is fool buzzing newbies with financial terms. Here is a report from India on the Goldbiz pyramid scheme scam! Slow load website!
THE TRUTH IS OUT ABOUT DEI SHUTDOWN - FDA!
11 Nov 2003 - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today (10 Nov 2003) that NBTY, Inc., of Bohemia, N.Y., has completed its voluntary destruction of approximately 90,000 units of Royal Tongan Limu, a dietary supplement promoted to treat various diseases like cancer, arthritis, and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). The destruction of the product, witnessed by FDA Chicago District, occurred October 13 - 17, 2003, at a landfill in Desoto, Ill. It involved approximately $2,700,000 worth of product. Royal Tongan Limu was distributed by Dynamic Essentials, a subsidiary of NBTY located in Lake Mary, Fla. Dynamic Essentials has ceased operation, and no longer promotes or sells the products on its website. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2003/NEW00976.html
DEI THE WATCHDOG WASN'T FAR OFF - SECRET FDA HIT!
11 Nov 2003 - Originally we postualated that NBTY (above) killed off Dynamic Essential and Royal Tongan Limu drink because they wanted to keep investors to be able to buy GNC from Royal Numico. We still hold that it was true! The question is? Who had the horsepower to get the FDA to be quiet about the hit on the DEI and Royal Tongan Limu? It has been months since the DEI shutdown and now we hear about the Royal Tongan Limu AFTER the GNC deal falls through! Destruction three months after shutdown? Three months of silence? Something smells here!
MLM NEEDED! U.S. PENSION PYRAMID FAILING!
Nov 5 2003 -- U.S Government's private pension insurance program (Government's Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp) is in financial straits. Their liabilities are estimated at $350 billion!
"CAN SPAMS" LAW STALLED BY FTC
Nov 3 2003 -- The Do Not Spam list approved by Congress last month is stalled by the FTC because of enforceability issues. The FTC says it will take more than the $18 million allocated by Congress for enforcement of the "Can-Spams" law. Their legal section also argued that they could not track down spammers and that email addresses are not in the public domain. The FTC is to deliver a report to Congress in six months. They are to implement the law within nine months. Ed. Note: Most MLMers use legitimate opt-in lists unfortunately we get lumped in with Spam. Expect a busy "sorting out" time when this goes in effect!
EARNINGS CLAIM PYRAMID SLAMMED
31 Oct 2003 -- The Tennessee Attorney General nailed a couple operating an illegal Internet pyramid scheme on the Internet. Join their pyramid and make a six figure income! Watch for more Web action by AG's against 1000's of little pyramid scammers on the Internet!
DYNAMIC ESSENTIALS KILLED IN VAIN?
Oct 29 2002 -- It has just been reported that Apollo Advisors is buying GNC from Royal Numico for $750 million. If Natures Bounty is out of the picture they may have prematurely killed off Dynamic Essentials for no good reason. Ed. Note: Sad!
SHAKLEE BOMBING SUSPECT NAMED
28 Oct 2003 The FBI and Police are seeking suspect Daniel San Diego in conjunction with the bombing of the Shaklee building September 26th. He could face up to 20 years for this and another bombing. The investigation has found San Diego had contacts with animal rights activists. Ed. Note: Shaklee does not do animal testing but their parent company Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical does.
GROCERY BIZ SCRAMBLING FOR MONEY
Oct 24 2003 GroceryBiz.com scrambling to get money to pay back 400 complaints from participants. The Alabama AG had questioned their methods. When they made the AG happy they went broke!
AG FINES GIFTING PYRAMID
Oct 24 2003 - Missouri Attorney General gets consent decree against pyramid scheme that took in an estimated $3 million dollars in St. Louis area. (Original Dinner Party) See: AG Fines
DEFENDANT SENTENCED FOR CURRENCY REPORTING VIOLATIONS
Institute for Global Prosperity Affiliate Conspired to Evade Currency Reporting Requirements
20 Oct 2003 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. Laura Struckman estranged wife of David Struckman (Co-Founder of Global Prosperity) was just sentenced to jail for 21 months. The charge was engaging in a conspiracy to evade currency = reporting. Global Prosperity was an evil scam that taught people how to evade taxes with "foreign trusts" and "business trusts." Three members have been sentenced for tax evasion and twelve more are under indictment. Global not only taught people bad tax evasion advice they got innocents to spend $5-$15,000 for seminars to give it to them!
MLM IS A GOOD INDUSTRY
17 Oct 2003 -- MLM is a good industry. A person can start with little money and make enough to pay for a house or make a good living if he or she wants. What you see on the MLM WatchDog is the inside happenings of any industry. Since one of the best learning tools to avoid MLM mistakes is other peoples errors, we publish them. Don't ever think we are pounding the industry as a whole!
GMT IS THIS FOR REAL? HA!
16 Oct 2003 -- Let's GMT licensed their products and leased their database to Global Star Nutrition. GMT is going to run customer service and pay refunds? What! Cut a second party (Global Star) into the profit margins and make enough money to pay commissions in the new company - then GMT gives refunds (and commissions?) to people owed money? Get real! Here is the latest -- see link! Don't bet your shirt on it! See class action dated 13 Oct below!
WELLNESS INTERNATIONAL FSB ONLINE
13 Oct 2003 -- Here is full Fortune Small Business article reported on the 10th of October. The MLMWatchDog has been reporting in print on WIN since they started bagging new distributors at over $200,000.
GMT 101 CHARGES RUNNING HOT AND HEAVY
13 Oct 2003 - Accusations GMT didn't file Chapter 11! We'll see soon. Accusations that GMT is Licensing?? distributor list to Global Star Network a new company??? WHAT! Investigation and time will tell. Alohe Commodities (ACI) out of Dallas taking heat for supporting new company. ACI a history of collecting weak companies. When Kaire investors killed Kaire (cutting distributor commissions) ACI carried the inventory, putting the company under their roof (collect money and shipping products). If not Kaire was history. But ACI's deal with Global Star Network is puzzling. Licensing ????
The Class Action Lawsuit against GMT? The lawyer is Lawrence Tackett and his telephone number is (281) 419-2626. His e-mail is LawTackett@aol.com . He will send you a form to fill out and you will need to fax it in with your ID numbers.
GASUPUSA GET YOUR MONEY BACK!
12 Oct 2003 -- Wild - After all the uproar over Gas Up Usa and the money that disappeared there here is your ultimate solution to make money with the brains behind the operation! The 80,000 or so that lost money send Email asking where your money went to!
KOREA DEAD? 1060 PYRAMIDS TO 165 TRUE MLMS?
11 Oct 2003 - A One of my favorite countries Mark Joyner and I both lived there for a couple of years. See this article: A Korean congressman put out some interesting information about MLMs in Korea. The problem is the congressman or the reporter made a common mistake of confusing good MLMs with Pyramid Schemes. Either direction it appears the Korean market spiraled down this last year per this congressman. Is Korea DEAD for good MLMs ??? http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2003/10/10/200310100029.asp
SHAKLEE BOMBED BY RADICALS?
10 Oct 2003 -- The FBI is investigating last Friday's bombing of Shaklee Corporation's offices. Shaklee's parent corporation Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical (Japan corporation) has been the target of a global campaign by animal hugging sick activists because it does use animal testing to save human lives. These animal sicko puke left wing weirdo's run around pipe bombing at will. Shaklee itself does not do animal testing. PETA the leading organization for the ethical treatment of animals lists Shaklee among the good guys. So the radical wing of PETA decided to make their own statement?? Ed. Note: Drop over to my doorstep with a bomb! You know what we call PETA bombers in Texas? Targets!
WHY E'OLA DISTRIBUTORS PUT ON THE STREET SEA SILVER PREDACESSOR!
10 Oct 2003 -- We got a news release on the E'ola downfall dated Feb 8, 2001 from an ex-E'ola distributor. It said that an Alaska woman was awarded $13.3 million for a stroke for using the E'ola weight loss product. The case had been to court once and thrown out. Then the plaintiffs found out that the FDA had warned E'ola about misrepresenting their weight loss product as "all natural" when it contained synthetic ephedrine in addition to herbal ephedra. Damages awarded were $1.3 million in compensation and $12 million in damages. Ed. Note: Another mislabeling hit by the FDA just like Sea Silver!
NEWAYS WHACKED BY FEDS
10 Oct 2003 -- Neways International pleaded guilty to selling a human growth hormone in Federal Court. Neways agreed to forfeit $1.25 million in profits plus $500,000 in fines from the illegal sales of the supplement BioGevity that it stopped selling after it found out vendors had lied to them. The whole battle came about when an ex-Neways distributor turned in a Neways distributor that was promoting the product as government approved as reported to the WatchDog. Neways stopped selling the product after their lawyers investigated the product or in our opinion the fines would have been much higher.
W.I.N. TAKES HEAT FROM FORTUNE SMALL BUSINESS MAGAZINE
9 Oct 2003 -- One of my least favorite companies resembling an MLM company Wellness International Network is blasted in the October 2003 issue of FSB. In the past I reported people writing checks over $300k to W.I.N. FSB reports new distributors wrote checks to WIN for over $600,000 to join. ---Wow! The WatchDog knew about (previous reports) lawsuits against W.I.N. by former distributors. There are more now! How did WIN overcome many of the MLM restrictions? They had participants sign Business Opportunity disclosures. Under $500 investment doesn't require these disclosures. Sign a business opp form for each state that requires it and you can spend what you want! But, ??? $600,000 for what most MLM's will give you for less than $500? Ed. Note: Finally will storm clouds get to W.I.N.?
FTC GREAT DEFINITION PYRAMID VS PONZI SCHEMES
9 Oct 2003 -- Internet pyramid and Ponzi schemes have proliferated since the mid-1990s, said James Kohn, an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission. While both schemes work on the same principle of using money from new investors to pay high returns, pyramid schemes require that members recruit new investors to keep the cycle churning. On the other hand, Ponzi schemes don't have a recruitment requirement and grow by word of mouth. Eventually, both become top heavy with old investors and collapse.
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