this topic really attracted me coz i was once almost conned by them. now this happened several years back and it's still quite fresh in my mind.

i was a college student and used to live in the hostel, and i was very close to my next door roommate, Michelle.

Michelle had this guy classmate (Ralph) who always ask her out, but she didnt go. Now Michelle is a party girl so one day, he asked her out to a party. He said it was his 'part-time job' boss party and he could bring anyone. And so he told Michelle that she could bring anyone too.

So she took me along.

When we arrived there (i really cant remember the place), the place was filled with 90% young people & 10% older people, in total about 70-80 people. Music was loud. Alot of drinks. It was a private karaoke lounge if not mistaken.

Everyone greeted us when we walked in. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM was SOOOOO FRIENDLY to us. I have never experienced that in my life! Never felt so welcome before..

So we ate, dance, drink sang a bday song, bla bla bla... Occasionally they shouted their MLM cheer (but we didnt know what it was all about and we didnt care coz we were having fun)... Some really hot guys took our phone numbers but NOBODY talked bout business that night. one of them was Patrick.

When we were leaving, we waited at the lobby (Me, Michelle and Ralph). We were going to take a taxi. It was pretty obvious the taxi stand was down the road, but Ralph insisted that hiring a cab at the lobby will be easy. That was when we saw the rest of the people waiting for jockey to bring their flashy cars, BMW, AUDI, MERC, you name it. Me and Michelle was thinking like wow! we just scored ourselves some rich guys. but we didnt realise that was a tactic..

Ok, so over the next few days, Ralph didnt really bother us, until about 1 week later he did a follow up with us by having tea with us. Of course we asked him where he got to know those people (him being a student himself) and what to the rich hot guys work as. He didnt tell us. He said if we are interested to know more, he will bring us to their work place.

We went to HLA the very next day. everyone was dressed in suit and tie. So damn smart lor.. I saw Patrick again, and attempted to smile at him, but he clearly didnt remember me at all. Then i realise got something fishy d..

They took us into the 'meeting hall', we there were many small tables and about 3-4 people per table. mostly chinese. and they sat us down on 1 table and started telling us about LB. Took us to tour around the office.. show us Estebel products and all the oils and lamps from the cheap to the most expensive. even went up to the Duke rooms. and then i realised wah.. Patrick is an Arch Duke... *fall in love* straight... and NOBODY talked about money that day..

coupla days later, Ralph asked us out again to the office. Me and Michelle were quite interested to learn more and earn more. So we went.

Was briefed by 2 girls (Sylvia and 1 more cant remember her name) and they told us about the RM2345 + RM150 thing.. we were quite surprised and kinda demotivated la... where got so much money... they ask us to go back and think about it and then let them know if we are interested.

After that day, Sylvia kept asking us out to go clubbing. We also kept going la.. And everytime we wondered, wah they got so much money... and each time also me and Michelle no need to pay.. This went on about 2-3 weeks.

Then she kept making appointment with us to go back to their office to discuss further.. we kept hesitating but one day we decided to go back la. They really seem like they have alot of money.

So we told them we dont have the money.. then they made a loud announcement half way thru the discussion. "This is our COUNT SYLVIA who just made RM10k last month!" and everyone in the hall cheered.

walaueh we were so greedy we were so interested. and they said they cannot help us financially but they can help us to think of ways to raise the money:

step 1 - ask from parents

if step 1 fail, step 2 - ask from friends

if step 2 fail, step 3 - sell off your computer and mobile phone (they said CONFIRM can get it back within 2 months)

if step 1,2,3 fail, skip 1 semester and use the money to pay (but dont tell parents).

when i heard that.. i became suspicious d. but i pretend like im still interested and still continue to feed on their free clubbing la..

i then got to know a guy, BeXXXX, who was a Duke. He is from another group. He kept asking me to go out with him. I was thinking he wana tarik me and put me under his team.

But it turned out, he liked me and he told me not to fall for the scheme. He said that everyone there is just putting a show. One BMW is shared and maintained by 3-4 people and they take turns to drive them. Most of them are in debt, especially the 'COUNT' and Marquie. BeXXXX is also driving a BMW but he is also a banker so his BMW is paid using his salary la. He is there to earn some very rewarding extra money.. he also said, first they will persuade you to sign up for RM2345 + RM150. but after signing up, they will tell u RM30k level gives you a higher % in return... in the end who earn? the arch dukes and of coz, steven yeam.

So in the end, me and michelle stopped going to their office. Sylvia and Ralph kept calling us, we rejected her and told her we were not interested to do business..

In the end after that semester, Ralph quit his studies to focus on his 'business'. I am not sure what happened to him after that or how he ended up. Maybe one of the arch dukes? Maybe not? I dont know.. but i thank god he sent me BeXXXX to wake me up. I almost fell for the trap.

You are right, I was about 20 years old, and they target people around that age coz we are very very much easier to influence.

So anyway, thanks for reading =) and please.. warn all ur friends who might fall into their trap!

based on what i remember, this is the hierarchy and some of the numbers (just a rough estimation only)

SYN
|
Arch Duke
|
Duke
|
Marquis
|
Count
|
Baron
|
Franchise

i join. i pay RM2345 + RM150. total, RM2495. this i get Franchise status. to up-level to Baron, i need to bring in 5 franchise (means 5 new recruits who will pay RM2495). you can also speed up your level-up to Count by paying 30k.

how do they earn money?

if i am a franchise and i recruit you (as a franchise), i get about 5% 'commission'. where the other 95% go? 10% to baron, 15% to count, 18% to marquis, 20% to Duke, 22% to Arch Duke, and 10% to SYN or something like that. (just a random estimation)

so u imagine, i only get 5% when i recruit 1 person. but there are 5 other franchise who will bring in more money to the baron. for example: me, you, he and she. 4 of us are all franchise under baron ABC. all of us bring in 1 new franchise for March. the 4 of us will only get 5% of the 1 friend that we bring in. but the baron ABC, he will get the 10% from me, 10% from you, 10% from he, 10% from she. you do the math for the rest.

this is a circle that will never end. why? when i invest RM2495, of course i want to get it back right? and of course if i want to get higher % returns, i want to quickly ask my recruit to recruit more people right? if i am greedy, i will think of ways to become a count right? when i know this is a scam, i will think of ways to pull other people in so that i can take back my RM2495 and get out of this circle right?

Yes, you will get RM2495 worth of lamps. but it's a scam in a way because u dont sell the lamp mar. and who wants to buy the lamp? 1 lamp for 3-400 bucks? when you recruit people, they pay RM2495, they also get the lamps... in the end no one buy the lamps also. and you don't think about the lamps after you join because all you want is people to join so you can get your money back.

actually the thing here is not selling lamps. its about the business and the motive behind it. when they recruit you, they dont tell you how beautiful the lamp is bla bla bla.. their main purpose is just to recruit you so that you can recruit more people. just because.

the lamp is just a product that you get 'in return' for the RM2495 that you pay. it's not even a marketing tool. no one brings their lamp out and tell you how good it is, and what to use it for, etc..

hmm.. ok u just imagine, you join amway. when u join, you need to pay RMXXX to be a member, but in return you get products. they teach u to use the product and sell the products. there are thousands of products for you to choose from and u can choose to sell it or use it. if your friends use it and they like it, ask them to join.

in LB, you join then u pay RMXXX. in return you get lamps and maybe oil. do they teach you to sell the lamps? no. they teach you to recruit more people to join. so that when they join, they get beautiful lamps and expensive oil.

what is worse now is that LB has even opened a counter in shopping malls for people to try and experience the lamp and oil. so what do the franchise people do? do they even have anything to sell now? my guess is that their main job is now solely to recruit people. for what? i really dont know..

for me, LB is just like a recruiting company with nothing to sell. its just solely recruitment and my guess is the lamps is just an excuse for them to use.

well... whether it's a scam or not, its very subjective. some people think it is, some people think otherwise. but as you can see, most people who commented here have had experience with them (almost joined), or have previously joined them. and probably half of them think of it as a scam or some con job.

i see where you are coming from.

but why do others still feel like they are being conned/scammed:

1. they all pretend to be rich fags driving nice car, when actually it's rented or maintained by 3-4 people (true story, but not sure if all members do the same)

2. they teach dirty tricks to raise the money (come on, using education fund, selling off hp and computer? that's not right)

3. they target the vulnerable coz easy to brainwash (ok this is very subjective too)

4. people pay RM2,495 and get some lamps that they are not even taught or asked to sell. and what LB is doing here is like you apply for a sports club/gym, and you get a towel or a bag complimentary. when you bring a friend in, you get RM100 lets say, and on top of that, your friend gets a bag or a towel too. with that bag/towel, you both can choose to sell it or use it, but the thing here is, who would sell that bag/towel? in LB's case here is just you to keep asking your friends to join, and your strategy to your friends is the 10% return for every new member, but the purpose of joining is not known. it's not that everyone wants the lamps, it's just something they get out of the money they invested (like the free towel/bag).

How mlm works is there is usually a platform for products with a turnover. for example, amway. you need to use detergent, you need vitamins. instead of getting them from watsons or tesco, amway says get it from them. when you recommend it to your friends, your friend joins, and you get some comm out of the membership fee or something like that.

but for LB, what turnover? oil? lamps? and their main purpose here is not to sell more lamps. it's get more people to join so that they can get more people to join. and in return, we give them lamps.

well that's my POV.

legally speaking, maybe it's not a scam.

but the people who call it a scam feels like they got scammed that's why they say its a scam. and the funny part is, there are many many people who say it's a scam, not just 1 person. so the collective feedback that we get here, is that it's a scam. but whether it really is or not... who's to say?

well personally, i didnt get cheated by them. i almost joined but i was warned by my friend who was a Duke at that time. and yet, i still think of it as a scam because of the way they brainwash you into joining the business.

lolz.. none of your business

they promoted both estabel and lampe berger..

wahaha.. anyways, it's like so long ago already... 8 years maybe? lolz

can... of coz can remember the important details lol