Indonesian TVI Express blog explains how TVI Express is a Pyramid Scheme

The blogger though, describes it as if it is legitimate, but is it? Let's see what he wrote:

Or restated: once you join, you must make as many people join under you as possible, and make sure all who join under you also do the same: make more people join under them as well.

Not a word about selling anything, just recruit, recruit, recruit.

Why is this NOT a scam?

TVI Express: covers 3 out of top 10 scams in UK

Here's a list of Top Ten Scams in UK as per Guardian.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/feb/02/top-10-scams-to-avoid

1. Nigerian "advance fee" scam
2. Psychics
3. "Sure thing" investments
4. Fake lotteries
5. Miracle cures
6. Online dating
7. Phishing
8. Prize drawing
9. Pyramid selling
10. Work-from-home scheme

Guess what, TVI Express fits 3, 9, AND 10! Making it the scam for all seasons! Don't believe me? I'll show you.

3. Sure thing investments... Make LOTS of money, right? $10000 per week, they claimed. 


This is right off their homepage:

9. Pyramid selling. Does TVI Express use a pyramid structure? 

This is off their "compensation plan" page. What do you think?

10. Work-at-home scheme. Does TVI Express claim to be "work-at-home"? See for yourself. 

TVI Express: the scam that combines 3 out of 10 most popular scams ever.

Related articles

• TVI Express is indeed a scam in India, and other developements (kschang.blogspot.com)
• TVI Express: the only scam that employed hackers to attack critics (kschang.blogspot.com)

Archive revealed sad signs of denial in Africa

Back in October 2010, when Bank of Namibia declared TVI Express a pyramid scheme, reaction was swift among the locals. Excerpts here are some of the reaction to local newspapers, and my comments (in blue)

http://www.namibian.com.na/index.php?id=28&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=74192&no_cache=1

IS it not better to allow us the 52 per cent unemployed to continue make a living honourably through network marketing rather than to legalise prostitution?

But what proof is there that TVI Express is actually network marketing? Or for that matter, Holiday and Cash? They CLAIM to be, but are they really? 

What does it market besides itself? I don't know anything about Holiday and Cash, but it sounds like exactly the same thing. 

HELLO BoN Mr (Ipumbu) Shiimi and Mr (Ndangi) Katoma do you know than Donald Trump, together with Dolf de Rose, are the board members of Holidays and Cash? Are you also aware that Holidays and Cash is operating in 105 countries?

No proof of such link can be found any where on Google. Even alleged Holiday and Cash websites no longer has anything related to Donald Trump. This is likely a lie, or misunderstanding, similar to the one perpetrated by TVI Express about Warren Buffett and Sir Richard Branson. 


As for number of countries, that in no way proves any sort of legitimacy. Illegal drugs are in every country of the world. So? 

(TRADE) Minister Hage (Geingob) please help us TVI is not a pyramid scheme. Ask TVI people to present it to you. Help us. The BoN wants us to suffer while they are getting richer. Please help.

Ask those in the scam to prove it's not a scam? That's really funny. This basically gets into "us vs them" and "conspiracy" tactics of the cults. 

BANK of Namibia as a member of H & C I am expecting you to withdraw your press release as soon as possible. I want to work for my child’s varsity fees for next year. You are wasting my time and pushing me back into poverty. BoN stole my financial freedom; I want it back big-time. BoN was sleeping only to wake up now just to jump on the wrong side. BoN are you going to give my child a bursary and take care of everything?

So it is the authorities fault for wanting to stamp out fraud, because you do not want to be saved. 

BON or Mr Ndangi Katoma be reasonable and think twice before you take TVI to the newspapers. Why don’t you meet this big giant and hear the best-ever concept in business that every Namibian needs to block the poverty and help themselves. This is not a pyramid scheme as you claim. In Namibia we need this kind of of business that benefits everyone, even a poor person can become a wealthy person. So do good research and apologise to the whole nation.

Clearly, these folks never heard about the cases in China, where perps of TVI Express were arrested and JAILED for running a pyramid scheme, back in 2009. A year later, they still don't believe TVI Express is a scam. 





As you can see, mass denial runs deep. It is a symptom of cognitive dissonance.

Related articles

• Consumer New Namibia explains why TVI Express is a pyramid scheme (kschang.blogspot.com)
• NEWSFLASH: South African Authorities Hire Forensic Accountants to Trace TVI Express Scam Money (kschang.blogspot.com)
• You think pyramid scheme only harms a few people? Think again. (kschang.blogspot.com)

Indonesia: TVI Express gave money to poor, but not to members

SerambiNew reported that members have not seen a penny of their money after EIGHT MONTHS in TVI Express.  (Use Google Translate, or read screenshot below)

When these members are certainly not seeing any money, and are not seeing any refunds either, TVI Express was reported elsewhere giving money to charity. They even have photo of Tarun Trikha and Goernani Goernawan accepting flowers and whatnot.

Clearly, TVI Express regards its own members as less deserving of company money than outsiders.

Another Classic "weasel" review of TVI Express

Here are weasel review made by various TVI Express distributors in support of TVI Express.

If you need some background on the TVI Express scam, please read TVI Express: an international scam first.

Is "Is TVI Express Legit" a good review?

Our second review to review is "TVI Express Review - Is TVI Express Just Another Fly by Night MLM Company, Or is TVI Legit?". Gee, that's a mouthful. It is available at

http://ezinearticles.com/?TVI-Express-Review---Is-TVI-Express-Just-Another-Fly-by-Night-MLM-Company,-Or-is-TVI-Legit?&id=3187919

The author is a TVI Express member. If you click on the link he provides at the end, it goes to his customized TVI Express recruiting website. Thus, if he said good things about the company, you'll have to take it with a grain of salt, as you cannot be sure of his motivation.

So what about the article? From his conclusion, his purpose was to demonstrate "TVI Express is NOT a scam." Let us see how well he argued.

First justification = strawman

He claims that TVI Express is not a pyramid, because...

First of all lets define what a "pyramid scheme" is. A pyramid scheme is a business model that involves recruiting people into a so called opportunity through and exchange of money with no product or service being delivered.

Unfortunately, that is nowhere CLOSE to what a definition of a pyramid scheme is. He is describing a regular scam, where your money is taken and you got nothing back, not a pyramid scheme at all.

The service that TVI Express provide is access to a dynamic travel membership. Membership owners are able to book flights, vehicles, hotels, and cruises at discounted prices. Members also get a 6 day 7 night vacation to the destination of their choice which includes a free return flight for one when they join. So from this aspect I feel comfortable in saying that this is not any type of pyramid scheme or cash gifting program.

His argument can be restated as follows:

1) Pyramid scheme is recruit people into something which delivers nothing
2) TVI Express does NOT deliver nothing
therefore
3) TVI Express is not a pyramid scheme

Unfortunately, this is a strawman, because he basically INVENTED this definition of pyramid scheme. I'll just cite Federal Bureau of Investigation's definition... again

Pyramid schemes, also referred to as franchise fraud, or chain referral schemes, are marketing and investment frauds in which an individual is offered a distributorship or franchise to market a particular product. The real profit is earned, not by the sale of the product, but by the sale of new distributorships. Emphasis on selling franchises rather than the product eventually leads to a point where the supply of potential investors is exhausted and the pyramid collapses. At the heart of each pyramid scheme there is typically a representation that new participants can recoup their original investments by inducing two or more prospects to make the same investment. Promoters fail to tell prospective participants that this is mathematically impossible for everyone to do, since some participants drop out, while others recoup their original investments and then drop out.
-- http://www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/fraudschemes.htm

So we can conclude this first explanation is useless, and an outright fallacy.

Wait a minute... that's it?

Yep, that's it. The author has offered NO OTHER justification for his premise. He described some aspects of the company, and some of the background, which came straight out of the promotional material provided by the company. There was no attempt to independently verify the information, or any additional research. He basically parroted the info.

Then he threw in some personal opinion backed by nothing:

My Opinion When I first heard about TVI Express, I really paid it no mind, as I am a network marketer I hear of new companies and so called pre-launch opportunities every day. As the company started to grow I took a closer look. Their business model is unlike any other company that I have seen in the industry which is a good and a bad thing. Its good in that it makes them unique from all of the other opportunities out there however, when a company has a business structure that is this different it can be meet with a lot of skepticism. Ultimately I think TVI Express will do very will because of its revolutionary compensation plan and since it revolves around every distributor only having to recruit 2 people I foresee many people being successful in this business even with no prior marketing experience.

At least he is honest enough to say it's his own opinion, not fact. Unfortunately, it is obvious he had never seen a scam before, because the "2x3 matrix" is just a copy of the "airplane game" in the 60's and 70's. It's not only NOT revolutionary, it's ancient.

I prefer to believe that he honestly do NOT know what he's doing, because if he *did* knew that it's a scam, then he had willfully engaged in fraud.

Conclusion = FAIL

The author gave only ONE argument to support his premise that TVI Express is legit. Unfortunately, he gave a strawman argument that is easily debunked. He did not use a commonly accepted definition of pyramid scheme, but instead invented his own. He sabotaged his own argument.

This article is representative of typical arguments trying to prove TVI Express is not scam. By using logical fallacies these TVI Express members fail to make their case.

Critique of EmJay07's blog, part 3

In part 3 of EmJay07's blog, we'll find out what other "truth" he claims to unveil. This part seems to be about ACCC and TVI Express.

First he takes issue with my title: "TVI Express is banned in Australia".

Okay, I'll admit that may be slight exaggeration. The title should be "TVI Express banned in Australia until further notice".

Second, he goes on to harp about ACCC's "track record" of losing some previous cases, against ACN, for instance.

What he did not bother to mention is ACN case dragged on for two years. ACN lost the first round in front of a judge, ACN cooperated fully with ACCC, opened up its books for auditing. In the end, ACN was only cleared upon appeal when it was demonstrated ACN reps are NOT paid by recruiting alone, but only by purchases of customers AFTER they were recruited as customers. If the recruited customers don't buy anything, the reps are not paid.

TVI Express distributors are paid by recruiting, esp. when TVI Express' own FAQ states "you don't need to sell any products". There are no customers, only distributors, and the only thing they distribute is the distributorship. There are no sales to outside customers. In order to get paid, you have to recruit. That makes TVI Express an illegal pyramid scheme, esp. when the $150 redemption fee is taken into account. And that, renders any comparison to ACN completely moot.

Then, EmJay07 decided to throw in multiple implications... Because there is no word on the FBI website, FBI must not be investigating TVI Express, and therefore TVI Express is legitimate.

The problem with that assertion is... 1) FTC is the main investigative agency regarding pyramid schemes, not the FBI. See Koscot, Amway, and Fortuna. 2) FBI don't make their investigations public. It would compromise the investigation. It is common sense. 3) Lack of public investigation in no way proves TVI Express is legitimate.

EmJay07... you were doing so well! You did raise a few interesting points, but with that unsupported implication after implication, you've pretty much ruined your own credibility! There is no "truth" in your statement! Just vague implications!  Hope you do better in your next blog entry!

UPDATE: Darn, next blog entry on his blog is a carbon copy of a TVI Express announcement! For a guy who claims TVI Express has a code of conduct, he sure isn't following it... See the note at the bottom of the annoucement page at TVI Express.com?





EDIT: Well, EmJay07...  I see you claim that you're doing TVI Express a favor. The fact is TVI Express says "do not copy", and you violated their wishes. That's very interesting behavior from someone who seems to love TVI Express as much as you do. Unless TVI Express actually says "please copy", you are not supposed to copy it. Public service is not an excuse. The fact that you did so makes one wonder about your ethics.

TVI Express and TVITeamOz plans strawman defense

TVITeamOz (the team being sued by Australian ACCC and halted operation), allegedly posted a rebuttal on an Indonesia TVI Express website. Instead of replicating it here, just go read it, then I'll show you how lousy their argument is.   http://www.kliktviexpress.com/pengumuman  

(note: the Indonesian site got weasel-itis and erased the copy of the letter. Unfortunately, they kept a copy on facebook under the same name: pengumuman... so you can't hide!  http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=102721546436429&topic=62&post=272)




What they are doing is using the logical fallacy "strawman" for their defense. Let us pick it apart.

"They" (TeamTVIOz) wrote:

"A pyramid scheme is defined by following characteristics:
--> No product
--> Returns for investments
--> People only at the top make money and rest don’t. All late comers lose their money.
As per the WFDSA and any Direct Selling body, above mentioned are the points which define a Pyramid scheme."

 This is already false. A search of WFDSA's website brought up this definition:

Numerous legislatures around the globe have proscribed pyramid selling. The wording of relevant statutes, codes, articles, acts, regulations and the like vary, but all contain the following core concept: A pyramid is a scheme in which a recruit pays (an entry fee) for the opportunity to receive future benefits (money or privileges) which are primarily derived from that recruit's (and/or subsequent recruits') introduction of additional participants in the scheme, rather than from the sale of products to consumers.

Thus, the scheme's rewards effectively come from the addition of new participants and their investments, not from the sale and distribution of real products to persons who actually use or consume them. No real trading in viable goods or services takes place, and the scheme essentially involves an internal redistribution of wealth from new entrants to the promoters. The scheme serves no legitimate commercial function. The only "trade" being carried on is actually in scheme participants' rights, and the redistribution of participants' entry fees or investments.

          -- http://www.wfdsa.org/legal_reg/index.cfm?fa=pyramid
It's clear that TeamTVIOz is citing their imagination of what WFDSA says, instead of reality. They defined a "strawman" of pyramid scheme, defeated that strawman, and claim the argument has been defeated. They picked some characteristics of pyramid scheme that they do NOT have, say "we don't have that", and they conclude they're not a pyramid scheme. If they claim victory based on that, they will lose. It is as easy as that.

TVI Express member plays the weasel and not quite lie

Image by locusolus via Flickr

Welcome to another episode of TVI Express Madness, where we highlight the various lies, untruths, and weasel-like activities perpetrated by TVI Express members in order to "support" their continued addiction to suspect pyramid scheme already illegal in China, under investigation in Hungary, and denounced in plenty of places!

Today's article in question is http://www.betternetworker.com/articles/view/mlm-news/companies/is-tvi-express-a-valid-business

The article contains several problems: 1) comparing TVI Express to AAA (auto club), 2) recruiting is not scam, 3) recruiting only two is not scam, and 4) bandwagon fallacy.

TVI Express boosters can't argue, tries ignore instead

"I can't hear you!" Image by baking_in_pearls via Flickr

On the Voice of Sikkim website, I invited all TVI boosters to actually try to explain WHY their business is legitimate. Instead of answering me, all they did was keep posting advertising spiel from TVI Express, many of which have already been debunked. To help them along, I even posted specific questions, such as "Why is TVI Express NOT a pyramid scheme, based on the definition of pyramid scheme as given by the E.U, or the American FBI?" And guess what answer I got?

"Whatever you will post it is doesn’t matter for us bcoz peoples knows the truth about TVI Express. Negativities people will boost up the energy level of Leader. We are going to inaugurated world class branch office in the heart of Sikkim at Gangtok. We will send you Invitation letter soon."

Or put it in other words, "I don't care what you say."

Well, how much legitimacy would YOU put in a company who will NOT bother to defend themselves against being compared to pyramid scheme?

TVI Express: fits FBI's definition of pyramid scheme

Here's FBI's definition of pyramid scheme:

Pyramid Scheme
Pyramid schemes, also referred to as franchise fraud, or chain referral schemes, are marketing and investment frauds in which an individual is offered a distributorship or franchise to market a particular product. The real profit is earned, not by the sale of the product, but by the sale of new distributorships. Emphasis on selling franchises rather than the product eventually leads to a point where the supply of potential investors is exhausted and the pyramid collapses. At the heart of each pyramid scheme there is typically a representation that new participants can recoup their original investments by inducing two or more prospects to make the same investment. Promoters fail to tell prospective participants that this is mathematically impossible for everyone to do, since some participants drop out, while others recoup their original investments and then drop out.

Some Tips to Avoid Pyramid Schemes:

• Be wary of "opportunities" to invest your money in franchises or investments that require you to bring in subsequent investors to increase your profit or recoup your initial investment.
  
  
• Independently verify the legitimacy of any franchise or investment before you invest.

( cited from http://www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/fraudschemes.htm )

 Let's see...

distributorship -- TVI Express call all recruits "distributors". Says so on the front page of their website!

"The real profit is earned, not by the sale of the product, but by the sale of new distributorships." -- yep, the $10000 (or $15000 or whatever) payout is obtained by "cycling the matrix", which means "get a lot of downlines". Besides, the company's own FAQ says "you don't need to sell anything." If there's no sales of product, then it must be sale of new distributorships, i.e. recruiting!

"At the heart of each pyramid scheme there is typically a representation that new participants can recoup their original investments by inducing two or more prospects to make the same investment." -- yep! Bullseye... You recoup your investment by cycling out the first matrix/board, which you start by recruiting two downlines, and teach EACH of them to recruit two more... (that's from the TVI Express FAQ)

So far, we've pointed out that TVI Express fits every definition of a pyramid scheme we've thrown at it. The FBI's definition above, the FTC's definition we used before, and others. Of the 600000 members out there in TVI world, NONE had came and offered any explanation WHY TVI Express is NOT a pyramid scheme. Does that mean they are ignorant, or they just don't care that they are participating in a crime?

TVI Express booster gives bogus example of Ponzi scheme

Welcome to another episode of "TVI Express Madness", where TVI Express distributors demonstrates their symptoms by writing nonsense on their websites. In today's episode, another TVI Express booster cites FBI.gov for supposed legitimacy, then promptly ignores it when it comes to explaining why TVI Express is legal...

He supposedly cites FBI.gov information, but gave no backlink. But let's ignore that for the moment. Suffice to say the definition of a Ponzi Scheme is accurate enough. From his own quote:

Instead of investing victims' funds, the operator pays "dividends" to initial investors using the principle amounts "invested" by subsequent investors.

Or in other words, the latercomers are paying the early-birds.

So what does he say that show explains WHY TVI Express is NOT a Ponzi scheme?

If this company was to take all of the money coming in and did not invest it for future growth (like new computer network labs and offices in India, like they doing at this present time) then someone might think this was some sort of ponzi scheme.

Instead of explain how TVI Express is NOT using the latercomer's money to pay the early birds, he goes off inventing a new explanation "they are investing in their infrastructure in India". So WHY did you cite the FBI website? Huh? And where's the PROOF of this claim, that they're investing in infrastructure in India?