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If your favorite YouTuber presents you with an exciting business opportunity, don’t get carried away. Diving in head-first without any thought is a one-way ticket to Scamtown—and exactly what they want you to do. Instead, relax, keep your wallet in your pocket, and check out these MLM scam-busting tips.
1
Look At the Quality of the Product
Whether it’s a new crypto coin, a supposed side gig that promises to help me earn six figures with minimal effort, or anything in between, my research process is the same:
I take a proverbial magnifying glass and closely examine the core offering.
For instance, is the product a pill that will help you make rapid gains in the gym akin to anabolic steroids, only perfectly legal? Heck, is there even a valid product you can find on Google?
No legit company will promise you high earnings or a big return on investment without something tried and tested they can offer. This is especially true if the influencer suggests you join a multi-level marketing (MLM) team. While not all MLM companies are scams, products that don’t exist or are questionable in quality won’t be enough to sustain legitimate earnings. As such, it’s a dead giveaway that the influencer you follow is unknowingly (or knowingly) advertising a pyramid scheme.
One of the most notorious examples of an MLM scam is Andrew Tate’s “Hustler’s University.” When Tate was allowed to post on YouTube, he made Hustler’s University seem like a legitimate course that guarantees huge earnings in exchange for just $49 per month.
The posts and videos generally showed members stacking up high earnings in a short time. While it did contain educational content. Hustler’s University only gave users basics on copywriting or dropshipping that could be found for free online, meaning the product was shoddy at best. Moreover, most success stories resulted from users earning commissions for sharing Andrew Tate clips online and enrolling new people into the course. So, basically, it’s a pyramid scheme.
2
Keep an Eye-Out for High-Pressure Pitches
If there’s any urgency involved, nine times out of ten, it’s a signal to run. You have probably already come across this tactic where someone is promising high returns, but only if you jump on board early. The phrase “Don’t sleep on this” is one example of such tactics.
As you can see in the following tweet, the scammers not only use convincing deepfake AI videos but also relied on the phrase “scan or regret” to create a sense of urgency.
Limited-time offers may seem valid, but they are nothing more than a trick to limit the time you can spend researching the company or the product. Sadly, plenty of uninformed people fall for this, which is exactly what scammers are banking on.
Instead of going for it straight away and buying inventory (or investing in the project), you should take your time and analyze what the thing is all about. A good opportunity will stay a good opportunity even if you wait 24 hours, and no one should be able to convince you otherwise.
3
Conduct Thorough Research Into the Company
I generally advise people to steer away from cryptocurrencies and crypto mining, not because there aren’t any legitimate projects but because scams are still rampant in the space. Yet, most of these scams fall apart after a quick Google search–MLMs peddled by online personalities are no different.
If unrealistic products weren’t a dead giveaway, absolutely no information on search engines or social networks most likely will be. These cons generally prey on digitally illiterate people, but what if there is some information online that seems valid?
In that case, search for the company or product on social media platforms like Reddit and the company’s social media pages. Bad reviews are a red flag, and so is the situation in which most information online comes from the company itself–including social media channels filled with bots. Anything that sticks out and looks off could point to a scam, especially when combined with high-pressure sales tactics or no product.
4
Does It Sound Too Good to Be True?
When all else fails, remember to trust your gut. If something sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. Think about it–someone claiming you’ll make stacks of money by doing almost nothing or by making a small investment sounds alluring, but we all know life doesn’t work that way.
Even if you’re not consciously aware of it, your body will tell you when something is wrong. Case in point: A few months ago, I was offered a job as a game moderator by what seemed, at first glance, to be a growing new MMORPG. However, there was some pressure, and the pay was allegedly around $3k monthly for minimal work. Despite the dopamine boost I got because I saw dollar signs, I also noticed a pit in my stomach.
As the alleged “job scout” tried to rush me into an interview, I took a closer look at the game’s screenshots and realized they looked questionable. After rummaging through a few of the company’s social media posts, it was clear that its 100k followers were bots—almost every single one.
A couple of Google searches revealed the company’s been in business for just one month, making it impossible to have a player base that could have been amassed organically in such a short time. I did what I had to do and blocked the interviewer, saving myself time and stress from being the victim of a scam. My anxiety was right this time!
In most cases, keeping these things in mind will help you quickly see through most scams on YouTube and other places online. Stay vigilant!