The MOBE Scam – How To Steal Money Without Remorse

The MOBE Scam was the most significant and far-reaching in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission asked If MOBE was A Scam and decided on June 11th, 2018, that it was indeed a scam. The FTC filed a restraining order against MOBE owner and native Australian Matt Lloyd and his posse. Also, the feds have over 4.500 pages of evidence to back up all the charges brought against MOBE.

When I write posts like this, it makes me happy that I decided to build my own online business and not have to experience losing large sums of money like many M.O.B.E. associates have!

The MOBE Scam – You Could See It Comming A Mile Away

Using its MASSIVE sales funnels, the multi-level marketing group MOBE has stolen well over 124 million dollars from its customers. This would make MOBE one of the largest illegal Ponzi schemes in decades! Similarly, it’s amazing that some people didn’t see this coming or are shocked that this happened.

All over the world, thousands of people were claiming that MOBE, which stands for My Online Business Education, was a multi-level marketing scam. I never joined MOBE personally because some practices MOBE was engaged in made me uncomfortable. I wasn’t the only one. The Federal Trade Commission wanted to determine whether MOBE was a scam. Also, there were so many complaints that the FTC planted an undercover investigator to check MOBE out.

The MOBE Scam – When the FTC Plants A Mole, You’re in Trouble

Following years of more than 1,100 complaints, the FTC sent one of its own to become a member of MOBE. This undercover investigator discovered many of the scam claims that thousands of people have made were indeed true. Two of the top earners at MOBE, Michael Giannulis and Michael Williams, unexpectedly left the company. When your two top earners leave, that should raise a huge red flag!

On June 7th, an email to Williams’ and Giannulis’ MOBE downline said in part: “The FTC has brought the hammer down upon MOBE, and we have to cut ties with them 100%. If we do not, we could find ourselves stuck in a sticky situation.” I have to tell you, if I received an email like this, I’d be furious. What’s even more amazing is that even after all of this, thousands of people still supported MOBE.

The MOBE Scam – A Load Of Shenanigans

If you go online and Google search MOBE and read some of the comments after the article or post, thousands of people will still do whatever these guys ask! That’s simply unbelievable! Also, the founders of MOBE tried to make some course corrections in their business practices.

However, by the time they knew the FTC was breathing down their necks, it was too late, and any so-called “course corrections” made no difference. The problem with this hot mess is that once one starts an illegal enterprise, it cannot be changed to appear legit as it was never legit to begin with. One of the main reasons I never joined MOBE is that they purposefully headquartered their operations in Malaysia to avoid any possible legal actions.

MOBE used to be located in Australia, but the Australian government banned them. However, they were banned because they were considered an illegal MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) scheme. MOBE works like the classic pyramid scheme, which is prohibited in a country like the United States. At this point, the FTC (the US Federal Trade Commission) shut MOBE down. Also, they stopped its online traffic from countries that have judged MOBE illegal, such as Canada, Australia, and the United States.

Make no mistake: once the FTC prevents MOBE members and visitors from accessing the MOBE website, then MOBE is finished! The second problem I had with MOBE was the required purchases. All new members were OBLIGATED to invest $2,470 in their “Silver Mastermind” membership. This was mandatory IF you wanted to reach the higher commission levels.

The MOBE Scam – Where Did The Problem Start?

But Wait! Hold on! This $2,470 membership was just THE FIRST of 5 products you must invest in to reach the higher commission levels. Please understand that THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEM STARTS. MOBE members who wanted these higher commission levels to make big money HAD NO CHOICE. Therefore, If you wanted to make the big money, you had to purchase the $2,470 “Silver Mastermind” membership.

Here Is the Root of the Problem: What You Need to Learn About Multi-Level Marketing 

The Federal Trade Commission, in the case of MOBE and all MLM organizations, made the following determination: The FTC has determined that an MLM company primarily generating revenue via sales to recruited affiliates is a pyramid scheme. You can’t provide a genuine product or service value when nobody outside of your income opportunity is paying for your product and service. That’s the core problem the FTC has.

Only the people within MOBE were buying what MOBE was selling, and they had to keep making sales within MOBE to make the business viable. The FTC concluded that an MLM company without significant retail activity is a pyramid scheme.

The FTC has presumably done its homework and concluded the retail revenue in MOBE among its members/participants is quite substantial. If the majority of company-wide revenue is NOT derived from selling products and services to retail customers, then YOU ARE IN TROUBLE! It doesn’t take a village idiot to figure out that people not associated with MOBE aren’t paying $30,000 to $60,000 for marketing courses outside of the income opportunity.

If an MLM company’s products offer real value, it will have no trouble establishing and maintaining a retail market outside of the MLM opportunity. Also, if there is NO RETAIL ACTIVITY outside of the MLM, then the actual income opportunity is marketed, which differentiates a pyramid scheme from a legitimate MLM company.

This is true regardless of what products or services an MLM company markets. Therefore, to answer whether MOBE is a scam or not, you have to look at the facts. MOBE provided good training. The actual instruction was not a scam. MOBE’s business structure is the problem. What they were asking members to do was NOT LEGIT! This brings me to my next point:

What Does This Have to Do With You?

Most people who lost thousands and tens of thousands of dollars with the shutdown of MOBE were part of a multi-level marketing organization or MLM. The problem with MLMs is that they DON’T teach you how to build a real business. They primarily teach you how to recruit others into the MLM opportunity. However, the platform I’m associated with, Wealthy Affiliate, teaches you how to build your own online business.

Wealthy Affiliate teaches people how to become proficient affiliate marketers through training modules. Furthermore, Wealthy Affiliate does not have a pyramid-shaped, multilevel commission system found in MLM businesses and pyramid schemes; it certainly IS NOT an MLM.

Wealthy Affiliate members only earn commissions from sales made through their referral links. We do not earn anything from the sales of members we signed up for. No one is recruited. You’ll find no down or up lines, recruiting meetings, or high-pressure sales meetings.

Wealthy Affiliate do not promise you the moon and the stars; they never have in their 12 years of existence. If a person or organization tells you that you don’t have to work hard for your financial success, “follow their system,” and collect checks and sip cocktails by the beach – you know something is seriously wrong. Sadly, most people are lazy daydreamers who want “the good life” to come to them easily.

Additional Resources

• You Just Got Scammed: Now What Are You Going To Do?
• How To Avoid Affiliate Marketing Scams And Not Lose Money

The Problem With Done-For-You Platforms Like MOBE

Many multi-level marketing businesses, like MOBE, promote “Done-For-You” systems for their members. This is a HUGE mistake for the members who think they’re catching a break because critical elements of their blog or website are already done. Google hates done-for-you sites because of the issues with duplicate content. Google will always detect duplicate content that is not original.

Therefore, if your website’s content is like thousands of other MOBE members’ websites, then how can Google consider that “original content?” People are attracted to systems like M.O.B.E. and Digital Altitude because they don’t want to sacrifice large amounts of time, mental energy, and emotional energy to build their own online business.

The “Done-For-You” aspect is just too appealing as opposed to rolling up your sleeves and doing your work—so many people fall for the scam. Very few are willing to work Saturdays and Sundays or work on their business after their 9-to-5 jobs Monday through Friday. Unfortunately, scammers are also aware of this, and they devise systems to take advantage of people’s reluctance to do their work to build their own businesses.

Where do you stand? What do you think about this MOBE FTC investigation? Please feel free to leave your comments below. I really would like to hear what you have to say. Also, check out my Wealthy Affiliate review to better understand how this platform can help you learn how to make money online!

Talk Soon,

Howard

---