1. Pyramid Scheme

The actual legal definition of a pyramid scheme is a  company encompassing members that are specifcally recruiters for the company. In addition, the members of the company are the only people that have access to purchase products made from the company. The only way to become a member is to be recruited by one of the members in the company, and sign up underneath them and be on their team. After becoming a member of the company, access is finally granted to purchase any products from the company. Along with that, if there is no outside party, member, & user that is not affilated with the company making purchases from the company, the company is operating illegally a pyramid scheme. A pyramid scheme is an ILLEGAL BUSINESS MODEL. 

Link to LTD BSM-(Business Support Materials) Website 

The only way to purchase anything from LTD is to agree to a membership subscription. The only way to have access to a membership subscription is to be directly recruited by an LTD member; and sign up underneath them (in regards to LTD specifically). Once recruited into LTD as a member, access is granted to purchase anything from LTD.

Non-members of LTD must be recruited by a member of LTD, and sign up underneath them. P.S. notice how an LTD number of an LTD member is needed and not an Amway IBO number. Every LTD member has a number, and it is completely different and separate from an Amway IBO number. The LTD number is used to track LTD purchases made by LTD members/distributers. The LTD number is traced to an Upline's LTD number to track LTD revenue of downline.  Larry Winters then ultimately decides what percentage-(%) each LTD member/distributer/contractor-(specifcally Platinums & above) recieve off their downline's LTD revenue. 

Rich Devos-(owner of Amway) admits the Tools System is an illegal Pyramid Scheme 👇

2. False Income Claims

Making false income claims is illegal in criminal and civil law. LTD distributers are guilty for making false income claims about the Amway Compensation Plan to prospects and downline. This is done in order to enitce prospects to join & to retain downline. One manner in which LTD distributers do this is through weekly LTD meetings held all over the U.S. At each of  these weekly LTD meetings, LTD distributers present false income claims about the Amway Compensation plan to both prospects and downline. 

Amway Quality Assurance Standards 

Some interesting clauses from QAS (but not all) are:

- B.2.b: Some words and phrases are always prohibited, including but not limited to: “quit your job,” “be set for life,” “make more money than you ever have imagined or thought possible,” “unlimited income,” “full-time income,” “residual income,” “career-level income,” “financial freedom,” “financial independence,” and “passive income,” or any substantially similar statements or representations. APs and IBOs are also prohibited from representing that income is guaranteed or assured.

- B.6: Disclosures are required when making any express or implied earnings claim to any audience and when promoting the Plan or the Amway business to a Prospect for the first time

- B.6.b: The following disclosure must be used whenever an earnings claim is made – with the year and average amount being filled in based on the current Income Disclosure Statement.
-- US: For the calendar year [year], the average income from Amway for all U.S. registered IBOs at the Founders Platinum level and below was [$___] before expenses. 

Amway Business Reference Guide

Shown in the Amway Business Reference Guide 👇 section C7, clauses 5.1-5.4:

5.1. Presentation of the Plan: When inviting a Prospect to hear a presentation of the Plan, or when presenting the Plan to a Prospect, an IBO must make it clear that what is being described or offered is the Plan.

5.2. Describing the Plan: When describing the Plan to an IBO or Prospect, an IBO’s statements must be truthful, accurate and not misleading, and must convey realistic expectations about potential earnings related to the Amway business. All statements describing the Plan and the time and effort to build an IB must comply with the QAS Content Standards.

5.3. Positioning Amway and Approved Providers: IBOs must position the roles of Amway and Approved Providers in a manner that is truthful, accurate and not misleading, and must comply with the QAS Content Standards when doing so.

5.4. Earnings Claims: Earnings Claims must comply with the QAS Content Standards.

Amway Guiding Principles Document 

Amway distributers are allowed to make annual income claims up to the Founders Platinum level ONLY. This is because Amway as a corporation makes ZERO annual claims for levels above the Founders Platinum level-(explicitly stated within the Amway QAS Content Standards Document, & the Amway Guiding Principles Document). 

Amway is not an opportunity to create financial independence and have financially freedom. Amway distributers throughout the U.S. claim to individuals that Amway is an opportunity to develop "financial independence", "financial freedom", "unlimited income", "passive income", & etc. However, the Amway Corporation doesn't make any of these claims. In fact, Amway as a corporation specifically instructs their Amway distributers-(within their Amway contracts) to NEVER describe the Amway opportunity this way and to instead describe the Amway opportunity as a secondary/supplemental income. Specifically, it is stated within their Amway distributer contracts-(Amway business reference guide) in Section C7 clauses 5.1 to 5.4. If Amway distributers make any of these claims to you they are in violation of their Amway contracts.

No one-(prospects and Amway distributers) is actually shown the true Amway Compensation plan. Before expenses, the average annual U.S. income for Platinum is less than $20,000, and for Founders Platinum it is less than $50,000 for annual U.S. income. In the past, Amway has claimed what individuals can earn at founders Platinum but that was $53,400. No where, will Amway claim you can earn 75K at Platinum or Founders Platinum. In addition, Amway makes ZERO income claims about what Amway distributers can earn for annual income above Founders Platinum-(that includes the Ruby Level, Emerald Level, & Diamond Level). Amway only mentions bonuses, trips, & rewards people can earn at levels above Founders Platinum, but not annual income. Amway only makes income claims about what Amway distributers can earn for Annual income from the Founders Platinum level and below-(this is all explicitly stated within the Amway QAS Content Standards Document, and the Amway Guiding Principles Document found above 👆).

Larry & Pam Winters Confess to Making False Income Claims & False advertising at The LTD Summit Conference In 2025

In October 2025, every LTD member at the Summit Conference-(a conference meant for ALL LTD members to attend) was exposed to false income claims, & false advertising that violated Amway's QAS-(Quality Assurance Standards) Content Standards. 

What LTD members were never told is that immediately after Summit, Larry & Pam recorded a private video admitting these violations but this video was never shared with ALL of the LTD downline members who actually heard the illegal claims. 

Instead, LTD Leadership restricted the video to select higher ups, quietly changed the curriculum, & left thousands of active members in the dark. 

LTD members who attended Summit in October 2025 were impacted by the false/unsubstantiated claims, & they were legally entitled to be disclosed the video. However, LTD made sure to never show the video to many active LTD members, & keep them from knowing about Larry & Pam's violations. 

3. Deceptive Trade Practice 

LTD isn't just "secretive". Failing to disclose the LTD Compensation Plan is illegal under three different areas of law. Amway higher ups in LTD promote Amway's Compensation Plan as the pathway to success while operating a second, hidden money system behind the scenes, the LTD tools business. This tools business includes monthly subscriptions, meetings, and conferences that the downline pays for. But the downline is never told who gets paid from these charges, what the LTD Compensation Plan actually looks like, or how much of their money flows upline as profit. That concealment violates multiple laws simultaneously. 

First, this is a violation of FTC Act Section 5, which prohibits deceptive acts, including deception by omission. When someone pitches a business opportunity or makes income claims, they must clearly disclose all material facts. A "material" fact is anything a reasonable person would want to know before spending money. In this case, the fact that Amway higher ups in LTD earn income from monthly LTD subscriptions and LTD events/meetings is absolutely material-(stated explicitly within the LTD BSM Compensation Contract found above on this page). By hiding this and focusing only on Amway income, Amway higher ups in LTD are engaging in deception by omission. 

Second, this violates State Consumer Protection/ Deceptive Trade Practice Laws. Every state makes it illegal to mislead consumers or fail to disclose important facts in a business relationship. Amway higher ups in LTD routinely tell prospects that the tools, meetings, and events are merely "training" or "rental costs". In reality, these fees are a profit center for Amway higher ups In LTD. Because these payments benefit the upline financially, and because that financial relationship affects a prospect's understanding of the opportunity, failure to disclose the LTD Compensation Plan is deceptive trade practice under state law.

Third this runs afoul of State business opportunity disclosure laws. Once LTD charges for monthly subscriptions, weekly meetings, monthly meetings, & quarterly conferences it's no longer just an "Amway support system". It becomes a separate paid business opportunity layered on top of Amway. States requires sellers of business opportunities to disclose key facts, including: what the business opportunity actually is, how revenue works, and what income the promoters earn. Concealing the LTD Compensation Plan while selling tools and events as part of a "business system" violates these disclosure requirements. 

Taken together, every nondisclosued monthly LTD subscription, LTD ticket revenue, & LTD meeting fee creates three simultaneous violations. (1) federal deception under FTC Act, (2) state deceptive Trade practices, and (3) state business opportunity disclosure violations. This isn't simply unethical. It represents a pattern of illegal conduct baked into the structure of the LTD tools system; the exact kind of repeated, coordinated wrongdoing that fits squarely into the definition of RICO and a Criminal Enterprise. 

Robert Micheal-(Former Amway & LTD Distributer Sponsored by Larry Winter's Son) on Chrystal Singleton

Snippet from the video above 👆

Robert Micheal was a former Amway distributer, and a former LTD distributer. He was sponsored/recruited by a man named Stephen Winters. Stephen Winters is the son of the owners of LTD named Larry & Pam Winters. Since Robert Micheal was sponsored/recruited by Stephen Winters, he witnessed close hand the lifestyle of Larry Winters. From his own experience, he realized Larry & Pam-(as well as some of the other Amway High Level pins) make most of their income from LTD and not Amway. This is illegal because Larry & Pam promote a lifestyle of financial wealth from Amway to both prospects and downline. However, the reality is Larry & Pam Winters make most of their income from the LTD Tools System. 

Hugh Zhang's Podcast

Snippet from the video above 👆

Hugh Zhang was an Amway Ranked Emerald, & he was apart of the Britt World Wide-(BWW) Tools System. Hugh was An Emerald, and he had two downline-(recruits) members at the Emerald Level as well. He witnessed the amount of revenue that can be earned through the BWW Tools System. Hugh realized the Amway High Level pins make 80% of their income from BWW, & 20% from the Amway Compensation Plan. 

Hugh Zhang on Michelle Garabito's show called Authentk TV

Avoid Getting Scammed By These FRAUDS Below 👇👇👇👇👇