Here&#x27;s the thing: In a multilevel marketing scheme, <i>even the word of the product users</i> is unreliable. This is because MLMs recruit their end users as a sales and marketing force that works, essentially, for free -- with the promise if big riches if you sell enough in the program.<p>You know &quot;The Secret&quot; and all that positive thinking Aladdin&#x27;s genie hogwash? That&#x27;s actually the public facing side of MLM propaganda. Internally, MLMs pump their customer base up with big promises about how if you think happy thoughts you are guaranteed to fly with the hidden (or even explicit!) threat that even the tiniest sad thought will send you crashing to the ground.<p>And this extends to what people are allowed to say. The key word is &quot;edify&quot;. You&#x27;re supposed to &quot;edify the product&quot; (talk about how great it is) and &quot;edify your upline&quot; (talk about what a great guy&#x2F;gal the person who introduced you into the program is). This is often backed up with threats and verbal intimidation and abuse. (e.g., &quot;Only losers say things like that. Losers and quitters. You&#x27;re not a loser, are you?&quot; and it gets worse from there.)<p>So for some of the most prevalent scams, objectivity can&#x27;t even be expected from the end purchasers.