# ACN? Pyramid scheme? MLM question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 17, 2007, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acn-pyramid-scheme-mlm-question/400442 "2007-04-17T06:30:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Klaatu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Klaatu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaatu)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acn-pyramid-scheme-mlm-question/400442/1 "2007-04-17T06:30:44Z")
Any of you all heard of ACN? They are a reseller of telecom services. My young nephew has been deeply involved with them for a few months, and I am convinced he is getting scammed. It is a typical MLM thing, where you buy in for 500 bucks, and get seven people for your downline, and they get seven, etc. You apparently can’t make money on the service, as they pay 1/4 percent commission on each customer. IOW, if I sell you a fifty dollar a month phone package, I get like 12 cents commission. :rolleyes So of course they make the money by getting new people. They haven’t been whacked here in the US, but there was some litigation in Oz and Canada I believe. Googling is somewhat ambiguous. Any info would be appreciated. Personally, I detest MLM, but am open to being enlightened. ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acn-pyramid-scheme-mlm-question/400442/2 "2007-04-17T09:20:33Z")
[http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.aspx?CIaNID=18370](http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.aspx?CIaNID=18370) MLM, yes. Illegal in Oz, yes. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acn-pyramid-scheme-mlm-question/400442/3 "2007-04-17T12:46:28Z")
[QUOTE=Klaatu] Any of you all heard of ACN? They are a reseller of telecom services. My young nephew has been deeply involved with them for a few months, and I am convinced he is getting scammed. [/QUOTE] My long distance provider is ACN. I’ve never been asked to sell it to anyone else, never seen anything like it in my bills or anything. It’s just cheap long distance. I’ve never had the slightest indication they did MLM crap. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acn-pyramid-scheme-mlm-question/400442/4 "2007-04-17T13:58:50Z")
They are an MLM company, and one that screws over the low-level folks pretty hard. look for it on [mlmwatch.com](http://mlmwatch.com), you will see what I mean. They actually contacted me once through a recruiting company for a legitimate IT position as a DBA. The recruiter told me next to nothing about them before the interview, so I had to do my own research. Once I found out who they are, I called the recruiter and told them I would not be honoring my interview commitment because of the type of company they were. I went round and round with the recruiter, but in the end I refused to go interview there, as I didn’t want to work for an MLM company. Those recruiters have never called me again, but I can’t say I miss them. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acn-pyramid-scheme-mlm-question/400442/5 "2007-04-17T14:05:03Z")
[QUOTE=crazyjoe] They are an MLM company, and one that screws over the low-level folks pretty hard. look for it on [mlmwatch.com](http://mlmwatch.com)… [/QUOTE] I believe you mean [http://www.mlmwatch.org/](http://www.mlmwatch.org/). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acn-pyramid-scheme-mlm-question/400442/6 "2007-04-17T14:18:11Z")
Maybe ACN Canada is different. I went to their web site and found no MLM stuff. Perhaps they gave it up here.