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Weight loss marketer gets 10 year in jail (19)

03-19-2014 02:35 PM #1 _mcr_ (Moderator)
Weight loss marketer gets 10 year in jail

http://www.slate.com/articles/video/...src=burger_bar

After years of inundating infomercial viewers with promises of natural remedies, weight-loss cures, and free money they don’t want you to know about, Kevin Trudeau is headed to federal prison for 10 years.

The court is also auctioning off luxury items from his vacation house to help pay the $38 million in fines he owes.

If you live in the US, always keep in mind that this kind of thing is not impossible.

03-19-2014 02:48 PM #2 shakedown (Member)

I guess that answers the question "What's the worst that can happen?". Although, this guy had been warned before by the feds.

03-19-2014 02:55 PM #3 craigm (Veteran Member)

he's a complete tool that deserves everything he gets

03-19-2014 03:25 PM #4 timtetra ()

As far as I heard, he isn't going to jail because he got caught deceptively marketing or anything, it's because he was banned from running infomercials etc and he continued to run them like 35,000 more times

03-19-2014 03:26 PM #5 twoj (Senior Member)

Originally Posted by craigm

he's a complete tool that deserves everything he gets

I am seeing mixed opinions on this. A lot of stuff I saw was that he only had 67 complaints.

It looks like what ended up happening was a few small fines, then the 37m fine, then he was still running ads?

03-19-2014 04:31 PM #6 panthary (Member)

Originally Posted by timtetra

Seems to be what happened: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Trudeau

03-19-2014 05:05 PM #7 waltermitty (Senior Member)

He did everything you possibly could to warrant jail time. He signed into agreements with the FTC and blatantly disregarded them. He filed false financial disclosure information with the FTC and he buried all his money with his new wife who is not a US citizen to bypass settlements.

03-19-2014 06:07 PM #8 summa (Member)

this dude is oleeeee school. he scammed me hard on some "mega memory" infomercial back when I was 12. LOL at him going to jail. I mean this guy has scam in his blood; its in his genes. You can't tell a boxer not to fight, and you can't tell a basketball player not to hoop. Same goes for Kevin Trudeau - you can't tell scammer not to make infomercials. I'll drink one for my homie and for some "mega memory."

03-19-2014 07:48 PM #9 craigm (Veteran Member)

Originally Posted by summa

all his home remedy cancer shit makes me sick, people avoid getting actual effective treatment because they believe what this asshole has to say

03-19-2014 09:40 PM #10 zeno (Administrator)

I certainly won't lose sleep over a rich, scamming, pseudoscience-loving and scaremongering jerk going to jail.

03-19-2014 10:42 PM #11 summa (Member)

Originally Posted by craigm

all his home remedy cancer shit makes me sick, people avoid getting actual effective treatment because they believe what this asshole has to say

same here. you know what else gets me sick? all those junk bonds traded in the late 80s after people were bamboozled into giving all of their life savings. ditto goes for the subprime mortages people were handing out a few years back. AND you geta house. AND YOU GET A HOUSE. AND YOU GET A HOUSE...bam - too good to be true. Kevin, wall street swindlers, lending institutions, same story, more complex bullshit. Its the American way - capitalism and exploitation. Its the logical extreme and end-point of how we are to always/eventually behave given our present/out-dated mental facilities.

03-19-2014 10:44 PM #12 summa (Member)

Originally Posted by zeno

I certainly won't lose sleep over a rich, scamming, pseudoscience-loving and scaremongering jerk going to jail.

sounds like the description of a successful affiliate/copy-writer

03-19-2014 11:03 PM #13 zeno (Administrator)

Originally Posted by summa

sounds like the description of a successful affiliate/copy-writer

Well, not every affiliate goes down that path, especially not with all the FTC crap lately.

03-20-2014 03:38 AM #14 cmdeal (Veteran Member)
The type of person you are is much more important than the size of your bank balance.

Originally Posted by summa

Kevin, wall street swindlers, lending institutions, same story, more complex bullshit. Its the American way - capitalism and exploitation. Its the logical extreme and end-point of how we are to always/eventually behave given our present/out-dated mental facilities.

I know where you are coming from.

But I will have to disagree here.

I know it is easy to get very cynical and think that the entire world is just a completely crooked place.

I sometimes feel this way as well.

And there is no question that there is no shortage of shady people in the world.

But like many phenomena in life, people get distributed along a bell curve. There are some really awful people in this world, while most people are kinda good/kinda not so good, and then there really are some truly amazing, impressive people in this world.

Indeed, even in the world of business or marketing where most of us inhabit, there are incredible people who achieved their success without cutting corners, hurting other people, and while genuinely caring about their users. A great example is a guy who I went to school with named Tony Hsieh. He ran a company called Zappos which was known for just insane customer service as well as Linkexchange, one of the first ad networks. He sold Zappos to Amazon for about $1 billion and Linkexchange to Microsoft for about $265 million around the time he was 25 years old. He has also written an amazing book about his experiences http://www.amazon.com/Delivering-Hap...dp/0446576220/ which I highly recommend.

This is not to say that everyone in business or marketing is a saint.

We all know that this is far from the truth.

However, I have personally found that whenever I start getting cynical about the world, I quickly start becoming a type of person I do not want to become.

And I see this happening in others as well. Indeed, when someone start believing that "Everyone in Internet marketing scams consumers" or "Anyone who makes money in this industry does it by pushing rebills", etc. then it quickly becomes easy to rationalise a lot of things. And we all know that whenever there is a lot of money involved, people can rationalise pretty much anything.

There is a nice poem that hung in the entrance to my Tae Kwon Do class when I was younger. I do try to read it every now and then, and I think it is definitely worth sharing. The older I get, the more I realise that the type of person you are is much more important than the size of your bank balance and that life is about much much more than just money.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.

Especially, do not feign affection.

Neither be critical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be careful.

Strive to be happy.

03-20-2014 04:32 AM #15 Mr Green (Administrator)

^^ cmdeal is next level. I've definitely got a man crush.

03-20-2014 11:29 AM #16 solaris (Member)

^^ Yeah getting a bit firm myself.

Cmdeal you studied with Tony Hsieh, he is an amazing guy, Zappos was/is seriously disruptive.

03-20-2014 06:13 PM #17 caurmen (Administrator)

I could not agree more with cmdeal.

It's perfectly possible to be a highly ethical person and still achieve tremendous success. Indeed, sometimes it's easier, as your ethics force you out of taking the laziest path and into trying new things that genuinely add value.

03-22-2014 05:29 AM #18 stackman (Administrator)

Originally Posted by timtetra

This is always the case. People don't go to jail for 1 flog gone wrong.

03-22-2014 11:18 PM #19 nancybadillo (Member)

Wow, thanks for sharing this story. I can't believe their are people out there that would do these type of things…

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