Kevin Trudeau Will Face Jail for Lying on TV... AND Stiffing the Court of Penalties

Kevin Trudeau
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Kevin Trudeau is a master salesman. Unfortunately, his early exposure to MLM seem to have lead him down a dark path, and he became a scammer instead. And now he's really going to pay the price... in jail. Following is a short history of Kevin Trudeau.

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Kevin Trudeau apparently was a real go-getter even when he was young. He was voted "most likely to succeed" by his high school graduating class. However, he refused to go to college. He claimed he went to an Amway meeting at 15 and have wanted to be financially free ever since. He claim to have started a mail order company before he was 18. However, after high school he tried selling cars for a while, found it boring, then went on the seminar circuit, peddling one thing after another, like "super memory!" around the nation. Apparently that was not challenging or lucrative enough, as he went into fraud.

Apparently around 1990 he impersonated a doctor when meeting with bank officials to open accounts, then wrote 80000 worth of bad checks. He apparently also fraudulently obtained 11 credit cards (identify theft) and spent them. For the first crime he spent maybe a month in jail as the judge gave him a soft sentence for first time offender. A year later, when he got caught for the credit card fraud, he spent almost two years in a Federal prison.

When interviewed by Washington Post in 2005, Trudeau blamed "math error" and "overzealous bank officials" for his rap sheet. For the fraudulent credit cards, he said he was unfairly penalized for paying late one time his AMEX card which resulting in him not being able to get any card, and he had no choice but to apply with fake social security numbers.

He just cannot admit that he did anything wrong. Such narcissistic behavior is indicative of sociopathic personalities.

The prison stay did not stop his criminal behavior at all. It only make him even MORE determined to make his money... through any means possible. He also met up with a guy named Jules Leib (to whom he gave a Tony Robbins self-help book while in prison), and when they got out, they teamed up to make money... through MLM.

Network Marketing? Or Cargo Cult Marketing?

Ever heard of Cargo Cults? No? It's a cult (alternative religion) that evolved during WW2 in Malenesia (little Pacific Islands) where the natives evolved a religion based on airplanes dropping huge amounts of cargo out of the sky and if they pray and march and wear the right uniforms and build "runways" or "fake airplanes" the great plane will come and give them more cargo. And yes, they're still around.

Cargo Cult of the Pacific, via http://www.rusticaobsessa.com/?p=257

Those of us who know a little history would realize that those were WW2 supply missions where transport planes drop supplies for our troops that probably went off course for one reason or another.

Cargo cults existed for 50 years and no great planes have appeared since WW2. Yet it persists. Why? Because they *wanted* to believe, even though it doesn't work and hadn't worked for 50 years. They keep doing the same thing.

Richard Feynman coined the term "Cargo Cult Science", where people are doing apparently scientific research, studies, theories, etc. trying to explain some problems and propose solutions, except they have tried for decades, and nothing has worked. He was referring to criminal science (how to reform criminals) and pseudo-science such as ESP. Things have NOT improved for those fields. It's gotten WORSE.

Network Marketing is the same way. It is really "cargo cult marketing" because in most cases most network marketers only know how to indoctrinate as many people as possible and hope they make you rich. All the junior reps are recruited through "edification" of the top reps, and was given the message: monkey see, monkey do. (i.e. you can be me if you do what I do) even though there is no proof that doing what they did is the key to success.

Only a few PROFESSIONALS realize the truth and try to do it the right way. VAST MAJORITY of people are doing it wrong, and they are either ignorant... or simply don't care. They see their own success as "proof" of their own brilliance, not realizing they are simply lucky... or good at OTHER things... such as recruiting or cult indoctrination.

And that's exactly what a cargo cult does. They do what their "ancestors" did even though there is no proof and no reason it would work.

But there's more... the CULT aspects.

MLM Mythbusting: No, MLM Did NOT Create the most millionaires of any modern industry

Recently, I can across yet ANOTHER MLM wild claim  from a MLM supporter

He claimed that "MLM has produced more millionaires than any other industry".

I asked him does he have any proof, and he never got back to me.

Time to call in the MLM Mythbusters!  Is the claim "MLM has produced more millionaires than any other industry" true or false?

The story is quite fascinating, as it demonstrates some of the worst aspects of MLM... blind repetition of claims with no verification.

First, there is NO PROOF of this claim in ANY popular fact-checking sources, or any reputable news source.

The sole source that can be verified was that it was ALLEGEDLY stated by "Les Brown", pretty famous motivational speaker. It was cited by multiple MLM fan sources, but nobody can give a specific date, time, or speech that he allegedly said that, nor was his source of that claim given.

UPDATE: MLM Consultant Len Clements (whose website is InsideNM.com) identified the source of the myth as Beverly Nadler, a popular MLM author in the 1980's and 1990's, who since has backed away from her own claims. MLM Skeptic have previously identified Nadler as the source of "Harvard Teaches MLM" myth. Please see comments at the end.

A secondary source is Paul Zane Pilzer, an economist who likes to play entrepreneur and encourage the wellness industry, which jibes with a lot of MLM pushing "nutritional supplements". Pilzer claimed that the wellness industry, and network marketing will be the two largest growth markets in the US in the coming decades. However, he didn't say it already produced millionaires.

THERE IS NO PROOF that MLM / Network Marketing has produced the most millionaires in modern times (say, since MLM got started with Amway in late 1970's) other than ONE man's word, with no evidence and no source.

But it's repeated by all the MLM fan sites, with NO fact-checking.

So which industry did produce the millionaires, if not network marketing?

UPDATED NEWS: Payza funds in US frozen by Department of Homeland Security? Or Not?

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Official Signature Websafe Colors (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to Ultralight Financial Services (ultralightfs.com), aka Obopay's homepage, funds that originally belonged to Payza (i.e. MH Pillars, who bought out AlertPay earlier) was frozen by Department of Homeland Security.

EDIT: Some updated info regarding Obopay. Please click "continued" and see the UPDATE section.

Those who play in HYIP or suspect Ponzi scheme circles should be familiar with Payza, because Payza doesn't have the restrictions of Paypal (no HYIP, no get rich quick schemes, etc.). With closing of Liberty Reserve earlier (and guilty plea by one of the co-owners not long ago) Payza had inherited the "Dark Paypal" moniker from Liberty Reserve.

Several suspect Ponzi schemes (they call themselves "income systems" or "rev share systems" or such) are definitely using Payza. Though some European firms prefer the Russian version.

However, Payza does not have license to transmit money in the US, so it has an exchange agreement with Obopay (i.e. Ultralight Financial Services) which has such license.

And now Payza US funds are frozen. Not seized, mind you, merely frozen. ALL OF IT, millions of dollars.

This apparently was noticed days ago, when Payza started notifying their US customers that they cannot get through to Obopay to pay people in the US, and they will have to start legal action against Obopay.

Then suddenly the notice on Obopay's home website appeared... Assets frozen.

It's suddenly very clear that Obopay was under a gag order... They are NOT to reveal what's going on with Payza's account... Until they are allowed to say so... and it's clear that DHS now has a full record of who got / sent how much Payza money via Obopay to / from whom.

While no reason was given by Obopay, one can easily surmise the reason had everything to do with money laundering... the same reason Liberty Reserve was shut down.

And speculations are running wild.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, and a message from MLM Skeptic

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the US, where we are supposed to give thanks to the world and each other about having made it another year.

So here's best wishes to you, the reader, with a bit of help from a South Park meme... (look up "Craig")

"If I could get some real customers
instead of just friends and family needing
favors... I would be so happy." 

If you are in MLM, may you find real customers (who are NOT affiliates like yourself) and make a profit the way it's meant to be made.

If you are a victim of scams, may you find relief soon... and the wisdom to not fall for a reload scam or any other types of scams.

If you're neither, you get the generic "Happy Holidays" wishes. :D

MLM Mythbusting: No, Network Marketing is NOT Among the Best Paid Careers

Did Success magazine ever said that network marketing is among the best paid careers of the world?
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Recently I ran into someone claiming that "network marketing is the best paid profession in the world". Yes, that's the exact quote.

I find that quote... idiotic, as it lit off all my skeptic sense alarms. :)

First, that makes no sense, as UN doesn't keep stats on best paid professions, yet UN is like the only agency that could have tallied "in the world" stats.

Second, no such quote can be found on Google. What Google said, is that some websites claimed that Success Magazine wrote once that "Network marketing is among the the best paid professions in the world."

Well, that's busted already, but how true is that "revised" quote? Is network marketing among the best paid professions in the world? Did Success Magazine ever published this quote?

I CANNOT find such a quote on the Success magazine website. I tried using search for "network marketing best paid" and got a bunch of articles, NONE of which contained the sentence that is even CLOSE to "network marketing is among the best paid professions in the world."  I tried searching just for "best paid" (in quotes) and got NOTHING. It is likely that the quote did NOT come from Success magazine.

(To the doubters... find me the article. Magazine scan will do, or PDF reprint, or such official statements, and I'll clearly issue an update.)

But where did the quote come from?

Woo Most Bizarre: Fake "Device" Sold by Now Transvestite Singer Fugitive

It is quite often that the MLM Skeptic encountered woo, but this one is far more bizarre than most. In fact, this may be the most bizarre woo that I have ever encountered (even including "cans of air certified to do nothing" and "fuel additive that violates laws of thermodynamics")

This woo is called QXCI, but it is also known as EPFX, or even SCIO. What the letters stand for is not important (it'll be listed at the end).

It roughly looks like this (laptop not included):

QXCI (everything except the laptop), picture courtesy of
http://www.badscience.net/2008/08/bill-nelson-wins-the-internet/

The important part is they are just random jumble of buzzwords. It's a machine that claims to be woo for all seasons... it is  (I am quoting from a website pushing such)

"... is an incredibly acurate (sic) biofeedback stress reduction system, combining the best of biofeedback, stress reduction, Rife machines, homeopathic medicine, bioresonance, electro-acupuncture, computer technology and quantum physics”.

And the operating principle of this device is based on...

"the following modalities: naturopathy, homeopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic, energetic medicine, psychology, aromatherapy, reflexology, colour therapy, Neuro- Linguistic Programming, biofeedback and Rife Resonator. It also incorporates knowledge of metaphysical subjects to bring a unique synergistic perspective to natural healing."

In other words, this is every quack woo lover naturopath dream machine!

But you'd never guess who invented this... and what happened to him...