Complain to the FTC about MLM!
20.10.2004
URL: http://www.ariplex.com/ama/ama_fct1.htm
This Web-Page mirrors a part of
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/invest/mlm.htm
The links within the mirrored text refer to the sites of the FDC!
Produced in cooperation with the North American Securities Administrators Association
Multilevel marketing plans, also known as "network" or "matrix" marketing, are a way of selling goods or services through distributors. These plans typically promise that if you sign up as a distributor, you will receive commissions -- for both your sales of the plan's goods or services and those of other people you recruit to join the distributors. Multilevel marketing plans usually promise to pay commissions through two or more levels of recruits, known as the distributor's "downline."
If a plan offers to pay commissions for recruiting new distributors, watch out! Most states outlaw this practice, which is known as "pyramiding." State laws against pyramiding say that a multilevel marketing plan should only pay commissions for retail sales of goods or services, not for recruiting new distributors.
Why is pyramiding prohibited? Because plans that pay commissions for recruiting new distributors inevitably collapse when no new distributors can be recruited. And when a plan collapses, most people -- except perhaps those at the very top of the pyramid -- lose their money.
The Federal Trade Commission cannot tell you whether a particular multilevel marketing plan is legal. Nor can it give you advice about whether to join such a plan. You must make that decision yourself. However, the FTC suggests that you use common sense, and consider these seven tips when you make your decision:
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them.
To file a
complaint
(https://rn.ftc.gov/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01)
or to get
free information on consumer issues
(http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/consumer.htm),
visit
www.ftc.gov
or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261.
The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft
and other fraud-related complaints into
Consumer Sentinel (http://www.consumer.gov/sentinel), a secure, online
database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies
in the U.S. and abroad.
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
FOR THE CONSUMER
1-877-FTC-HELP
November 1996
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Aribert Deckers