Brief Description of Linked Sites

Ruth Carter (a pseudonym to protect herself from an avenging upline) has offered some great services to consumers by posting (at her own expense):

• court cases and petitions against MLM's
• an MLM survivor's home page
• relevant media articles
• instructions on what to do if you've been deceived
• how to take legal action against MLM's, etc.

Ms. Carter has also written a very helpful book about Amway Motivational Organizations (AMO's) and the whole Amway scene entitled Amway Motivational Organizations:Behind the Smoke and Mirrors. Check it all out at: www.mlmsurvivor.com

Robert Fitzpatrick is the author of the provocative book (with a great title) False Profits, and a website of the same name. Mr. Fitzpatrick is becoming an important figure in the fight against illegal (or what should be illegal) pyramidism in all its forms.

Also on Fitzpatrick's site is an excellent analysis entitled, The Dark Side of MLMs by Ravi Dykema (Publisher/Editor in Chief, NEXUS, Colorado's Holistic Journal - Reprinted with permission by NEXUS from the January/February, 1999 Edition)

Join the discussion of MLM at the MLM Survivors Club, or the Quixtar Blog. Both require free registration to participate.

One of the most cogent of articles on MLM/network marketing is written by Dean VanDruff and is entitled What's Wrong with Multi-level Marketing? It can be found at http://www.vandruff.com/mlm.html His "Frequently Asked Questions" is a great retort to all those who say, "Yes, those criticisms about MLM are all true about all those OTHER MLM’s, except (of course) THIS one. Is it not truly different from all the rest?" Check out VanDruff's cut-to-the-chase answer.

Quoting VanDruff about another valuable resource: Ami Chen Mills' Shaking the Money Tree is fascinating journalism that captures the "stink" of MLM pathology and culture most vividly. Hold your nose, and dive into major deja-vu.

Want to read some painfully true stuff from a confirmed cynic, Professor Robert T. Carroll, who specializes in exposing all sorts of popular myths and scams? Check out the MLM section of The Skeptic's Dictionary.

The introduction to this myth-exploding site states: "Welcome, fellow 'Truth Seeker'. This site takes a good look at MLM and network marketing from the perspective of someone (me) who once built a sizeable downline. I've been there, and I have a perspective that took me years to acquire. This involves you. I'm not talking about 'them' here, this isn't someone else's problem...this is YOU. If you're smugly defending the myths of network marketing, ask yourself these questions:" [And then prepare for some very challenging questions. It is hard to imagine anyone choosing any MLM-type business after reading this and the follow-up information with an open mind!]

Is Your Church a Marketplace? A disturbing book by Kim S. Mather reveals the destructive influence of MLM/network marketing on religious communities.

Quackwatch - Your Guide to Health Fraud, Quackery, and Intelligent Decisions sponsors a site loaded with myth-debunking information about health and related scams, including MLM/network marketing companies that promote health products through amateur distributors. Its commentary about MLMs is well worth reading. For example: MLM Watch - A Skeptical Guide to Multilevel Marketing Operated by Stephen Barrett, M.D. "Accurate information about multilevel marketing is not easy to get. Few publishers, editors, and broadcasters are willing to examine this topic in depth. Most reports reaching the public express what the companies and individual distributors would like people to believe. Nearly all MLM companies selling health-related products exaggerate their value, and the vast majority of people who become distributors do not make significant income." Dr. Barrett has a site with several pages dedicated to MLM consumer watchdog information. The site even has an invitation for plaintiffs in class action lawsuits against MLMs.

See also The Mirage of Multilevel Marketing, an excellent analysis also by Stephen Barrett, M.D., a dedicated foe of MLMs offering health-related products (and exaggerating health benefits). And for reporting quackery sponsored by MLM/network marketing companies, you are invited to participate in the Multilevel Marketing Project.

Quatloos! Features useful stuff about scams and financial frauds. Read its scathing Guide to Multi-Level Marketing (MLM).

This site for the World Wide Scam Network includes a motley collection of complaints, exposés, analyses, legal actions and defenses, and resources pertaining to current MLMs and pyramid schemes under investigation.

Scott Larsen does a very creditable job of exposing myths about Amway/Quixtar in Amway/Quixtar Business Analysis where he blasts the notion that "If you have a dream the facts just don't matter."

The Cagey Consumer offers a report on multi-level marketing packed with sub-articles, references, and links.

Cult expert, founder of the Resource Center for Freedom of Mind, counselor and author Steven Hassan looks at MLM/network marketing as exhibiting many of the destructive traits of a cult. Check out the cultish aspects of Amway and Quixtar in the article Amway Motivational Organizations.

In addition, see the article entitled Multi-level Marketing Plans, produced in cooperation with the North American Securities Administrators Association November 1996.

Amway world wide dream builders and the things they will say to profit from your dreams. Potential Amway recruits will be inoculated against their program after reading "the things they will say."

Here is a site by someone angry enough to write about MLM abuses and willing to link with other sites, but preferring to remain anonymous (probably fearing retaliation): Network Marketing - Networking - Multi-Level Marketing- MLM - NWM - Pyramid Selling.

Here is a site loaded with information damaging to Amway/Quixtar: [Quoting from the introduction] "Welcome to Amway: The Continuing Story" WARNING! This site presents facts, opinions, and other information that is critical of the Amway business. There are things on this site that the Amway Corporation, its distributors, and Quixtar (its "sister company") would prefer you not know. If you are easily offended by such information (or your upline would not allow you to view it), please click your browser's 'back' button now so you do not expose yourself to this critical information. Otherwise, please continue... [But don't miss what is loaded on this site.] Unfortunately, this and other web sites are constantly under attack by Amway, using expensive legal maneuvers that place a great burden on those trying to speak out against the deceptions they foster. It's a David and Goliath type of struggle, to be sure. Hopefully, Goliath won't win in the long run. For information on this continuing saga, check out: Welcome to The Anti-MLM and Anti-Amway Webring Home Page

The Anti-MLM and Anti-Amway Webring features some sites by angry ex-MLM distributors who feel they and millions of others are being routinely ripped off by MLM/network marketing companies. Some of the sites are less than professional (being self-funded), but they are very revealing of how mad some people are about this deceptive business practice.

Check out the new Crimes of Persuasion site, which ambitiously attempts to debunk all types of business and consumer scams a person may encounter. Topics include (among numerous others) "multi-level marketing programs," "pyramid clubs," and "pyramid schemes."

What Is Good. In this site you will find information on 5 years of research on network marketing (NWM, a.k.a. MLM).

Latter-day Saints (Mormons) will find information on a book directed to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints entitled The Network Marketing Game. It was directed to this specific group because so many members have been attracted to network marketing (or MLM)