Tony Robbins’ Tips to Live Rich

Over the past few decades, life and business strategist Tony Robbins has become a household name. His boundless energy, determination and philanthropic nature has made him one of the go-to experts on how to have a fulfilling life and career.

He started from humble beginnings — growing up in a low-income, broken household — but today his net worth is estimated at over $480 million. In his recent book, “MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom,” he interviewed more than 50 major financial experts, including Warren Buffett, Ray Dalio and Steve Forbes, to create a wealth-building blueprint.

The best-selling author’s advice has been featured prominently in magazines, digital media and in national televised media. He travels all over the country every month for events to inspire people in their lives and in business. Below are some of his top pieces of advice on how to change your mindset in ways that can have a positive impact on your life and your finances.

1. Have a Mission

For people who find themselves in a rut, or who are unsure of which steps to take to improve their lives, finding a focus is important. However, it’s equally important to find the right focus for your life.

“Energy comes from having a mission; it comes from something that you’re being pulled by, not something you’re pushing on,” Robbins told well-known business expert Marie Forleo in a one-on-one interview. “If there’s something that you’re made for, then there’s a level of energy that most people would never dream of… We all have that, but most of us don’t connect to it and unleash it.”

Robbins said he lives in this mindset each and every day. In order to apply this to your own life, it’s important to spend time thinking about what you’re really passionate about, whether it’s big or small. The more excited and the more passionate you are about your goals in life, the more powerful you can be.

2. Stop Trading Time for Money

When it comes to walking the path to financial freedom, Robbins frequently talks about the issue of trading time for money. “If you work for a living, you’re trading your time for money,” he wrote in an article for Entrepreneur magazine.

“Frankly, it’s just about the worst trade you’ll ever make in life: You can always get more money, but you can’t get more time,” he wrote. “In the end, it doesn’t matter how much money you earn. If you don’t set aside some, you could lose it all…This is the first and most important step in putting yourself on the road to financial freedom. Take that step today.”

In essence, you can’t quit your job today, but you can start saving today. If there is a business you want to start or something you want to spend all your time doing, he advised to start saving now. The more money you save, the faster you can focus on the things you want to spend your time doing.

3. Practice Gratitude

This is sometimes an easily overlooked step, especially in difficult times. However, it can have a great positive impact on your life when you follow it.

In his book, “MONEY Master the Game,” Robbins quoted Sir John Templeton, whom he called one of “the greatest investors in history.” In an interview with marketing expert Lewis Howes, Robbins said Templeton told him: “If you have nothing, but you’re euphorically grateful for whatever you have, you’re the richest person you’re ever going to know.”

Robbins said he makes gratitude a part of his morning routine. Every morning, he spends some time thinking of the things in his life that he is grateful for, which helps him start his day. Anyone can start this practice, and the great thing is that it’s simple. To keep things consistent and make this a habit, you can even start a gratitude journal.

4. Be a Disciplined Investor

Robbins revealed his best piece of financial advice in an interview for Money. “Don’t think in terms of taking huge risks to get huge rewards,” he said. “Think about the least amount of risk for the greatest reward, and be disciplined about that.”

He cited Richard Branson as a great example of someone who takes great risks in life, but not in his finances. Instead, he said it’s very important to know what the downside is to an investment, and to have a plan to protect yourself from the potential downside. This is a great lesson for anyone to bewise with their investments, including taking note of any excessive fees that might be eating away at their investment returns.

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Fail

Although it’s not uncommon to fear failure, Robbins has a different take on it. “Unfortunately, we’re programmed to fear this thing called ‘failure,’ so we try everything we can to avoid it, which is pointless,” he told Success magazine. “Failure is often necessary for real learning to occur.”

This is a mindset that can absolutely be applied to both life and finances. No one is perfect when it comes to money, and sometimes making money mistakes allows us to learn and progress. The same is true when it comes to life and happiness. You’re not going to have a perfect day every day, but life’s failures can sometimes lead to life’s greatest successes.

So, welcome failure. Otherwise, getting lost in it and feeling sorry for yourself could prevent you from succeeding in the future.

6. Work Harder On Yourself Than Anything Else

Robbins told Bloomberg Business that the best piece of advice he ever got came from his mentor, Jim Rohn. “Find a way to add more value than anybody else does, and you’ll never have to worry about anything,” Rohn told him. “Every day, work harder on yourself than anything else, because if you become more intelligent, more valuable, more skilled — you can add more value to other people.”

The same lesson can be applied to your life and finances. Essentially, by becoming more knowledgeable and savvy with your expertise or your money, the more people you can help, as long as you have a giving spirit.

7. Save Automatically

Growing your savings is a very important part of living rich. “The majority of us have this thought process… that today is more important than tomorrow,” he told the OWN Network. However, it’s that mindset that can lead you not to save enough, or at all.

Therefore, in order to “trick yourself” into saving for tomorrow, Robbins said it’s important to save automatically. Talk to your employer about putting a certain percentage of every raise into your retirement account. If it happens automatically without you thinking about it, the money will just start to accumulate and hopefully grow due to the power of compound interest.

8. Give What You Don’t Think You Can Give

Being generous is another big key to living rich, no matter what your income. “If you don’t give a dime out of a dollar, you’re not going to give a million out of 10 million…[Generosity] teaches your brain there’s more than enough when you’ll give what you don’t think you can give,” he said in an interview with Brendon Burchard, an author on motivation and online marketing.

One way this can have a positive impact on your finances is that it can show you how to live on a lesser amount of money, and make you more astute when it comes to managing your finances. In addition to that, giving back to your community and helping those in need can give you a greater sense of connection with people, and help you cultivate gratitude in your own life and on a bigger scale.

9. Be Psychologically Strong

Many of the roadblocks people encounter could be due to their mindset. However, just like physical strength, you can build psychological strength.

“If you’re psychologically strong enough, you can not only survive, but you can thrive when tough situations occur, as opposed to letting the environment control you and take over,” he told Success magazine. “It’s really about mastering strength within yourself so that you can conquer the outer world around you.”

These teachings can be applied to so many things in life. However, surviving and thriving in tough financial times can teach you how to be resilient and to be stronger and better with money in the future.

10. Progress Equals Happiness

It’s natural to go through periods of feeling stuck in life. However, that could be a great sign that it’s time for you to break out of your comfort zone and try new things. “What makes us feel alive is growing, and when we grow, we have something to give,” he told The New York Times.

If you want to be happy, but you’re having a tough time in life due to personal or financial issues, it’s important to take whatever steps possible — even small ones — to progress and grow. Take a small step to make things better. Save a little bit of money. Put your first dollar into investments. Use any windfall or extra money to do something nice for somebody else. If you feel stuck and unhappy, remember what Robbins said: “Progress equals happiness.”

This article originally appeared on GoBankingRates.

Tony Robbins’ Tips to Live Rich

Over the past few decades, life and business strategist Tony Robbins has become a household name. His boundless energy, determination and philanthropic nature has made him one of the go-to experts on how to have a fulfilling life and career.

He started from humble beginnings — growing up in a low-income, broken household — but today his net worth is estimated at over $480 million. In his recent book, “MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom,” he interviewed more than 50 major financial experts, including Warren Buffett, Ray Dalio and Steve Forbes, to create a wealth-building blueprint.

The best-selling author’s advice has been featured prominently in magazines, digital media and in national televised media. He travels all over the country every month for events to inspire people in their lives and in business. Below are some of his top pieces of advice on how to change your mindset in ways that can have a positive impact on your life and your finances.

1. Have a Mission

For people who find themselves in a rut, or who are unsure of which steps to take to improve their lives, finding a focus is important. However, it’s equally important to find the right focus for your life.

“Energy comes from having a mission; it comes from something that you’re being pulled by, not something you’re pushing on,” Robbins told well-known business expert Marie Forleo in a one-on-one interview. “If there’s something that you’re made for, then there’s a level of energy that most people would never dream of… We all have that, but most of us don’t connect to it and unleash it.”

Robbins said he lives in this mindset each and every day. In order to apply this to your own life, it’s important to spend time thinking about what you’re really passionate about, whether it’s big or small. The more excited and the more passionate you are about your goals in life, the more powerful you can be.

2. Stop Trading Time for Money

When it comes to walking the path to financial freedom, Robbins frequently talks about the issue of trading time for money. “If you work for a living, you’re trading your time for money,” he wrote in an article for Entrepreneur magazine.

“Frankly, it’s just about the worst trade you’ll ever make in life: You can always get more money, but you can’t get more time,” he wrote. “In the end, it doesn’t matter how much money you earn. If you don’t set aside some, you could lose it all…This is the first and most important step in putting yourself on the road to financial freedom. Take that step today.”

In essence, you can’t quit your job today, but you can start saving today. If there is a business you want to start or something you want to spend all your time doing, he advised to start saving now. The more money you save, the faster you can focus on the things you want to spend your time doing.

3. Practice Gratitude

This is sometimes an easily overlooked step, especially in difficult times. However, it can have a great positive impact on your life when you follow it.

In his book, “MONEY Master the Game,” Robbins quoted Sir John Templeton, whom he called one of “the greatest investors in history.” In an interview with marketing expert Lewis Howes, Robbins said Templeton told him: “If you have nothing, but you’re euphorically grateful for whatever you have, you’re the richest person you’re ever going to know.”

Robbins said he makes gratitude a part of his morning routine. Every morning, he spends some time thinking of the things in his life that he is grateful for, which helps him start his day. Anyone can start this practice, and the great thing is that it’s simple. To keep things consistent and make this a habit, you can even start a gratitude journal.

4. Be a Disciplined Investor

Robbins revealed his best piece of financial advice in an interview for Money. “Don’t think in terms of taking huge risks to get huge rewards,” he said. “Think about the least amount of risk for the greatest reward, and be disciplined about that.”

He cited Richard Branson as a great example of someone who takes great risks in life, but not in his finances. Instead, he said it’s very important to know what the downside is to an investment, and to have a plan to protect yourself from the potential downside. This is a great lesson for anyone to bewise with their investments, including taking note of any excessive fees that might be eating away at their investment returns.

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Fail

Although it’s not uncommon to fear failure, Robbins has a different take on it. “Unfortunately, we’re programmed to fear this thing called ‘failure,’ so we try everything we can to avoid it, which is pointless,” he told Success magazine. “Failure is often necessary for real learning to occur.”

This is a mindset that can absolutely be applied to both life and finances. No one is perfect when it comes to money, and sometimes making money mistakes allows us to learn and progress. The same is true when it comes to life and happiness. You’re not going to have a perfect day every day, but life’s failures can sometimes lead to life’s greatest successes.

So, welcome failure. Otherwise, getting lost in it and feeling sorry for yourself could prevent you from succeeding in the future.

6. Work Harder On Yourself Than Anything Else

Robbins told Bloomberg Business that the best piece of advice he ever got came from his mentor, Jim Rohn. “Find a way to add more value than anybody else does, and you’ll never have to worry about anything,” Rohn told him. “Every day, work harder on yourself than anything else, because if you become more intelligent, more valuable, more skilled — you can add more value to other people.”

The same lesson can be applied to your life and finances. Essentially, by becoming more knowledgeable and savvy with your expertise or your money, the more people you can help, as long as you have a giving spirit.

7. Save Automatically

Growing your savings is a very important part of living rich. “The majority of us have this thought process… that today is more important than tomorrow,” he told the OWN Network. However, it’s that mindset that can lead you not to save enough, or at all.

Therefore, in order to “trick yourself” into saving for tomorrow, Robbins said it’s important to save automatically. Talk to your employer about putting a certain percentage of every raise into your retirement account. If it happens automatically without you thinking about it, the money will just start to accumulate and hopefully grow due to the power of compound interest.

8. Give What You Don’t Think You Can Give

Being generous is another big key to living rich, no matter what your income. “If you don’t give a dime out of a dollar, you’re not going to give a million out of 10 million…[Generosity] teaches your brain there’s more than enough when you’ll give what you don’t think you can give,” he said in an interview with Brendon Burchard, an author on motivation and online marketing.

One way this can have a positive impact on your finances is that it can show you how to live on a lesser amount of money, and make you more astute when it comes to managing your finances. In addition to that, giving back to your community and helping those in need can give you a greater sense of connection with people, and help you cultivate gratitude in your own life and on a bigger scale.

9. Be Psychologically Strong

Many of the roadblocks people encounter could be due to their mindset. However, just like physical strength, you can build psychological strength.

“If you’re psychologically strong enough, you can not only survive, but you can thrive when tough situations occur, as opposed to letting the environment control you and take over,” he told Success magazine. “It’s really about mastering strength within yourself so that you can conquer the outer world around you.”

These teachings can be applied to so many things in life. However, surviving and thriving in tough financial times can teach you how to be resilient and to be stronger and better with money in the future.

10. Progress Equals Happiness

It’s natural to go through periods of feeling stuck in life. However, that could be a great sign that it’s time for you to break out of your comfort zone and try new things. “What makes us feel alive is growing, and when we grow, we have something to give,” he told The New York Times.

If you want to be happy, but you’re having a tough time in life due to personal or financial issues, it’s important to take whatever steps possible — even small ones — to progress and grow. Take a small step to make things better. Save a little bit of money. Put your first dollar into investments. Use any windfall or extra money to do something nice for somebody else. If you feel stuck and unhappy, remember what Robbins said: “Progress equals happiness.”

This article originally appeared on GoBankingRates.

WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? - WAHM BAHM! DAMN SCAM!

When a product claims to be good and the company aims to help people to regain health, why then are the products not available on a cheaper scale instead of going through certain parties which charges sky-high for the products or membership.

Within the past few years, dozens of successors commonly known as multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes have convinced people to sell their memberships, products, health supplements, packages and more,  only to saddle them with pathetic inventories, credit card debts, and shattered dreams of "having it all." We scoured the internet to bring you the best (or worse) of some schemes highlighted.

You are not building a real business with MLM. You don’t own the business.  You don’t own the website.  You don’t own anything other than “product” that you usually are required to buy from the company (for way more than it is actually worth).

One of the biggest fallacies with an MLM program is that you are actually building a business, sucking in that next person to be your downline, shamelessly promoting the products and services to your family and friends, or even worse, have to buy the product yourself in order to remain part of the MLM…which can get very expensive.

Most Scammers aim in earning all the profits they can before they are being detected as scams and closed down by the authorities. By then, the pioneers are laughing their way to the bank, and looking into targetting more innocent (and greedy) victims via innovative investment and MLM schemes. Some of the schemes claimed to be legitimate and owned by a so-called Datuk and some were even listed on the stock exchange.

You can sometimes identify these “successful” Scammers and MLMers  by the way they dress, the cars they drive, the branded watches they wear. Take a look at how they flaunt their wealth and talk about achieving

FOREX SCAMS

The foreign exchange (forex) investment scam normally require investors to invest in the region of RM10,000 with the promise of receiving dividends. The companies’ traders show people holding huge amount of cash and encourage testimonials to lure people to invest in the currency trading investment for big earnings.

The RM2.7 million cash seized by police from the home
of one of the suspects in Bukit Ceylon in Dec 2015.
– source : Malay Mail

According to Bukit Aman Commercial CID deputy director Datuk Hamza Taib more than 130 reports on crooked forex trading companies were filed in 2015.

In Dec 2015, a forex trading syndicate, which embezzled some US$8 million (RM33.8 million) from a Chinese national, was crippled by police following raids in two separate locations in the Klang Valley early on Sunday morning. 

A seminar, which was organised by the syndicate’s foreign partners, had offered returns of up to three fold on their original investments. 

GOLD INVESTMENT SCHEME (OR SILVER, PLATINUM, OIL PALM, ETC).

There are many Gold companies which promises a Guranteed Fixed Income through hibah, interest, ROIs and a guaranteed buy-back or exit scheme. Most of thes Gold Scams are nothing more than ponzi scams.

The modus operandi is pretty much the same i.e. you will get a payment / dividend / profit every month without having to do any work. All you need to do is hand them the money and goyang kaki, then sit back and watch the money roll into your bank account every month.

Remember the Genneva Malaysia? The gold-trading business shut down this month by Malaysian authorities for suspected illegalities may have raised as much as $3 billion (RM10 billion) from its clients, a government minister said Wednesday. Authorities raided trading firm Genneva Malaysia on 1st October 2012 on suspicion of taking deposits illegally, money-laundering and tax evasion, and later expanded the crackdown to three other firms.

The raids have sparked anger from thousands of clients of such firms, who have petitioned authorities to let operations continue and have threatened to hold anti-government demonstrations over the issue.

But authorities have defended the crackdown, and Deputy Finance Minister Awang Adek Husin told lawmakers on Wednesday that Genneva Malaysia alone had taken in some RM10 billion from customers.

In April 2016, Five individuals and five companies linked to Genneva Malaysia Sdn Bhd were acquitted by the Sessions Court yesterday of illegal deposit-taking and money-laundering charges involving a total of RM12 billion. Yet, there were complains of investors not getting their money back in return. So how now brown cow?

HERBAL / HEALTH SUPPLEMENTS / MAKE-UP AND SKINCARE PRODUCTS

We have seen tons of products in the market capturing on their healing powers, touching on nutrition, health and weight loss. Members, aka as Distributors, are required to recruit new members into its distribution scheme to earn more money, instead of selling products to consumers.

When people are desperate to earn quite money, or to treat a certain ailment, distributors take the opportunities to talk about the goodness of the products and the distribution business.

The development of pyramid scheme by some make-up and skin care companies cleverly targets SAHM and women looking for quick cash, an emotional support system and perhaps most of all – empowerment.

Below here are a collection of lists of companies that  have been spreading around social media on the unscrupulous dealings of the schemes that victims claimed were sucked into.

  

YSLM – UNDER CDTUP INTERNATIONAL SDN BHD

Owned by a self-proclaimed “future richest man in the world":  Chinese national millionaire Zhang Jian in his 20s who came to Malaysia and set up a get-rich-quick pyramid scam was found to be carrying out online business and claimed investors had only to invest as little as RM300 for them to receive a return of between RM2,700 and RM6,000 a month without having to work.

Zhang was said to have openly offered several police officers money when they found more than RM50mil in cash, jewellery, land deeds and bank accounts during the raid.

Zhang, who founded the controversial YSLM multi-level marketing outfit, was reported to dupe people in China and Malaysia of nine billion baht (RM900 million).

INVESTMENT SCHEMES - SWISSCASH

Swisscash is an internet based investment scam which claimed to have invested in a range of investments such as equities, commodities and foreign exchange. Swisscash and Swiss Mutual Fund had been soliciting investments from investors around the world, including the Malaysian public, through the internet, offering returns of up to 300% within 15 months of investment. Swisscash operated the scam through telegraphic transfer (TT) and the Internet.

However, based on SC's enquiries and investigations, this scheme is an illegal operation which has been unable to provide these returns to investors. 

SWISSCASH was the King of all and inspired similar companies to flourish. Many members were left stranded with unpaid money when the company shut down.

SUNSHINE EMPIRE

This licensed Company back then had an impressive office at the ground level of KUB building along Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. Singapore’s Straits Times and The Paper published news reminding their people to be careful and NOT to believe in the company. People have complained that the company had stopped paying back members with investors claiming to have lost their money in the company.

The man behind Sunshine Empire, James Phang, has a dubious record of operating various scams. One of them involved investing in a resort in Batam known as Magic Kingdom. 

GRI (GLOBAL ROYAL INTERNATIONAL)

The owner behind this scheme is non other than multi-billionaire James Phang, the guy behind the Sunshine Empire Scam.

Prior to Sunshine Empire, he operated NOP and SwishCash. He operated this business remotely using various representatives and MLM leaders after his passport is held by the Singapore government and he is not able to enter Malaysia. The bold MLM leaders of the company in Malaysia visit his representatives in Malaysia or Singapore to market the company.

PERFUMERY PRODUCTS – LAMPE BERGER, BEL AIR

Lampe Berger (DCHL Sdn Bhd / RZ Corporation) MLM business is one of the most exploitative and shameless program in Malaysia.  Bel-Air operated with the same intention and is no longer in operation in Malaysia.

This perfumery product from France with over 100 years history speaks highly of their pretty bottles and  fragrance products falsely claimed by their MLM Business as an aromatherapy or air purifying product. 

Apparently, Hong Kong TVB aired a program that exposed their scam but their members claimed that Hong Kong’s TVB apologised to the members for the misinformation, but a view of that video doesn't show any clear apology on that part.

The MLM Business claims that some of the collector item’s price would appreciate in future like collector’s antique. They would use this to lure in more people to join. If that is true, has anyone successfully sold their lamp with the appreciated price? Some even have stocks piling up like mountain in their home. So talk about selling at an appreciated price?

Do note that the MLM  members will go all way out to lie in order to defend for their Company as they fear that they will not be able to gain back in the money invested, knowing that the Company may collapse.  Understanding that the Lampe Berger products are moving slow, they added a line of skincare products called Estebel, which also claimed to have over 100 years history in France.

Their top earner Steven Yeam (SYN), eventually left (is it even a surprise?) and started a new MLM company known as One Community World Wide.

ONE COMMUNITY WORLDWIDE

The company, owned by Steven Yeam and Willie Lim who started the Lampe Berger scheme targets the Malay market. Their main focus is selling mattresses with negative ion for RM25,000, with other therapy package for  RM300 onwards for those who can’t afford the mattresses. Members can opt for colostrum products as well.

CAFE SCAMS – ISLAND RED CAFE / STEVENS CORNER

Island Red Cafe collects RM6,000 from  each members and promiss a 5% return monthly, with your name listed in the ROC as a shareholder.

Stevens Corner, the famous indian coffee shop jumps on the bandwagon. They collect  RM3,000 per member and promise a return of RM150 monthly with the intention to open a nice fanchisee cafe known as StevensTeaGarden. Someone mentioned that they will make you sign an agreement which included the rights of not paying you anything in future.

It is advised that you ask for a copy of the agreement and consult your lawyer before paying. However, you may not get a copy of the agreement at all.

Both cafes collected monies from new members with MLM recruitment schemes to pay the old members, just like the Sunshine Empire program. You will never know when they will run away.

MOBILEWALLET

This Company,  owned by 2 young men, Stanley & Rey Gan with their office based in Queens Avenue Park, collected millions years ago.

They had advertisement billboards everywhere and claimed that they have tie-ups with Telekoms, Utility Board payment like Water & Electricity bills and even fooled Maybank.  They STOPPED paying their members a few months ago and the members weren’t able to do anything as each of them were made to sign an agreement, unaware of the company’s rights to stop paying members by CHANGING terms and policies.

WATER BUSINESS – SITO

The trick to this is promoting oxygenated and alkaline water products through bottled water, filters or equipments. . One of the better known Company that sold “oxygen” water is SITO (supposed to stand for Selangor International Trading Organiszation with claims that the Selangor State Government owned some share in it). The key person and founder is a Dato Robert Ong from Rawang but his name is no longer in the business now.

Their products are sold for RM2 to RM3 for a 350ml bottle and now targetting mostly in the Indian market. Their Chinese and Malays market are long gone since a year or 2 ago. Their customers are made to believe that their water has more oxygen and able to give miraculous effects for the body.

Latest news is that this SITO Company is going to create a new label to market under a new Company since the SITO name has already gone bad. Someone informed that this Company is owing alot of money (due to refunds) to ex-stockists and refused to pay them back.

(An update stated that SITO has shifted to another place and their MLM business is no longer in operation, but the company has plans to rebuild the business again with a different name, beware !!)

CAR FUEL BOOSTER – K-LINK

K-Link, the famous MLM Company that sold the footpatch TAKARA, later the “cock-ring” and energy-card launched the patrol-saving pills for cars last year.  The products were hot selling that grocery shops are also selling for them.

Many of the car ownerss that used the pills in their car have rushed to workshops to clean the residual. Few months ago, another MLM Company launched a fuel booster gadget that is attached to the cigarette lighter, with claims that it could save up to 20% fuel. It started off well using a binary plan but business began to fade away and most users found it to be NOT effective.

ENERGY PRODUCTS – PENDANTS, BRACELETS, MATTRESSES, PILLOWS

They used all sorts of gimmicks and demonstration to make you believe in the products. There were no proven improvements for those who used the products.

HI-TECH PRODUCTS– BIO-YOUNG, XKL

Names like bio-tech, nano-tech that millions of dollars of research involved (eg Bio-Young and XKL few years ago) use the name  and pictures of a highly acclaimed professor behind them with  words like “U.S.A. formula”, “German Technology” or “Nanotechnology” to attract buyers.

When you ask for more details like the professor’s or factory’s address, the answer given is that it’s “trade secrets with no further information provided.

ENERGY / COMMODITIES PRODUCTS – GOLDQUEST, QUESTNET

The company claimed to be a Hong Kong-based startup selling gold-plated coins of “no value” for over RM2,000.

They have changed their business names and products several times from QuestVacation, QuestNet and so on.

They have several offices in PJ and the key person (owner) is a Malaysian Indian guy who was eventually arressted in Indonesia for having an involvement in a huge Philippines scam. Most of their overseas offices are now dormant or closed but their business in Malaysia is still trending with more “energy” products.

NUMEROLOGY AND FORTUNE TELLING – VISIBER

Imagine an MLM company selling fortune telling classes based on Numerology. Prospects will be told that they need to buy a certain “number” between 1 to 9 in the form of pendants or bracelets made of stainless steel and gems which are sold between RM600 to RM20,000. 

Customers, or rather victims are mostly females. Many similar companies targeting the gullible "believers" who believe in numerology and fortune telling have since entered the market.

MJ-LIFE

This Company boasts of a very established background with many, many years of history which is NOT true. Their people or associates may be long in business but have  nothing to do with their MLM business launched recently.

New members are told to pay a sum of money (up to RM1000) but get NOTHING for it. You will be given membership entitlements to enjoy the various discouted and special price programs when you have medical check-ups in their centres. They claim that all those check-ups cost more if they’re done elsewhere. Unfortunately, it not entirely true. Only the naive and those unfamiliar with medical check-up requirements will fall victims to them. Most members who paid the money ended up with nothing.

SEAWEED VENTURE SCAMS

The seaweed scam is pretty prevalent in Malaysia. One such company was located in Taman Maluri, Cheras. You will be asked to invest a few thousand ringgits  for their business venture of growing seaweed in East Malaysia and you are guaranteed returns.

To gain your confidence further, they will tell you your investment money is secured by some “insurance” or “unit trusts” schemes with “trustees”. When you ask for further documents to prove, all sorts of excuses will be given.

MGM / MXM

Owned by a Dato Kam (Pathlab), this scam targets young individuals. The business was extremely successful in the beginning but the business dropped once they changed their name to MXM after moving into their big 10-storey office at Phileo Damansara.

A RM3,000 to RM4,000 fee is collected through credit card payment from members. Payment can also be made through easy monthly installments. In return, members will get an insurance coverage from Pacific Insurance that provides hospital benefits and medical check-ups. They lure members by offering talks on fitness, healthy lifestyle and other unscrupulous offers.

GANO EXCEL / I-TOUCH LIFE / GEW2U

This company from the north is a copycat of DXN. selling Lingzhi capsules. The Company called Gano iTouch tried to cash-in using online schemes similar to e-Cosway after their Company went down the drain, selling Lingzhi products, energy pendants of no-value and alkaline water gadgets. They even provided free transportation to interested parties from KL to visit their Alor Star office every weekend. In 2009, they changed their name to GEW.

NULIFE (HK)

This Company founded/started by some HK people has been in Malaysia for more than 10 years but flopped in Hong Kong and Malaysia due to bad management and promoting a product  using the name of a prosecuted American named Dr Jeffrey Bland who was found guilty for making false claims. When this case was leaked out in the US and many Malaysians found out that the real boss in Hong Kong is a Steven Tang (an infamous conman who cheated Malaysians in another scheme about 20 years ago) their business went downhill.  They then claimed that they were cheated by their Malaysian partners.

AROWANA FISH BREEDING

The arowana fish venture ask you to invest some money in breeding fishes and give you fixed return continuously. This sounds really fishy. It sounds just like many other investment schemes. You invest, you get monthly return. At the end of the day, will you get your money back?

BIOFUEL (KOMPLEKS MALURI)

Biofuel will tell you their Indonesia connections (just like Sunshine Empire before using Taiwan). It was believed that the buifuel company operated as a pyramid scheme, where new investors’ money are used to pay previous ones.

OORA FROM GERMANY

Oora from Germany that marketed some bio-chips and a gadget that claims to give energy and therapeutic effects of acupuncture, tai-chi, yoga, etc depending on how you set the toy-like gadget and wear it on your body to get the effects later. There were no given explanation or demonstration to prove their effectiveness.

EASY-PHARMAX

One of the biggest MLM scams in Malaysia, owned by a Dato Yeap with a false promise that the company will use an e-commerce or online selling platform to transact their goods and make profits beyond means. Members were tricked to invest up to RM40,000. The promise was not fulfilled.

VACATION AND REWARDS PACKGE – GENIUS THEME

Holiday packages are being sold for RM499 to RM599 with a complimentary few nights stay in Thailand or Bali. Started by a company named Max Generation, Genius Theme sells their products to other companies and also famous companies like Sen Heng.

Previously Sen Heng gave the package away for free with purchase of products over RM2,000. There were other hidden costs to be paid and it was never really free unless more upfront fees were committed.

In recent years, we have hear of new vacation packages that use the pyramid recruitment scheme to get members to sign in and experience ‘”worldwide travelling” for free. To enjoy free trips, there are terms and conditions set out to go for your desired holiday destinations.

WORK FROM HOME /  INTERNET AUCTION

While this is not an MLM scheme, it is worth noticing that the largest percentage of Malaysian scam victims had fallened for the Work-from-home fraud. Applicants are tricked into paying someone online to help them start a business or undertake work but end up not receiving any payment.

Almost a quarter had experienced Internet auction fraud, where they purchase an item online and never receive it. 

Based on a report from Telenor group as shown below, 46% of surveyed Malaysians have been an internet scam victim.

Source : Telenor Group

Greed lures people into investing their life savings in investment schemes by the promise of ridiculous returns.

Illegal or not, you judge for yourself. There is no stopping anyone from joining any MLM, but don’t risk your reputation with the intention to make money and cause others to fall into the trap.

If you are involved in an MLM, you are not a bad person We are defined often times in life by what we achieve and what we have, and having an internal motivation to make money in the fastest time possible and make it just like the people at the top of these pyramids (whose success stories they are alway sold on).

You may have good motives. Hoever, there are many opportunities out there that can carry you far beyond any MLM program that will get you wrapped up and swallowed.

People need to be reminded of the 3 main points :

·         There is no such things as a free lunch

·         If a scheme is too good to be true, it's probably a scam

·         It's better to be safe than sorry.

In the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)’s website, a list has been compiled based on information, complaints and queries received by BNM regarding the activities of the persons and entities concerned. 

The list is not exhaustive and the Bank will update the list periodically from time to time. The list of companies and websites which are neither authorised nor approved under the relevant laws and regulations administered by BNM  is intended to serve as a guide to the public.

List of companies and websites [Updated: 07 June 2016]