by Adam Walser

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(WHAS11) - It's been called the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to own your own business… Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing, based here in Kentucky, is growing rapidly worldwide.

The company says average people can quickly make big bucks by selling products from well known, trusted companies.

But former Fortune managers tell WHAS11 that the company is a pyramid scheme, where raises and promotions are not based on product sales, but on recruiting.

FHTM is seemingly turning up everywhere…all over the Internet, on YouTube and in meeting rooms, auditoriums and restaurants in all 50 states.

An estimated 200,000 representatives have been recruited, mostly at scheduled weekly gatherings.

In Louisville, they're held at the Fern Valley Inn and at Furlong's Restaurant. 

“You’re gonna get paid $100,000 a year for doing exactly what you do today,” said Florida Fortune Representative Trey Knight, one of the company’s top recruiters in a promotional video obtained by WHAS11.

Todd Rowland, a Fortune Rep from Arkansas, claims before a packed meeting room, “Last month, what I was paid on a monthly basis was more than I would have been paid in five years coaching at the high school level.”

The pitches promise fast cash with help from a higher power.

Kevin Mullens, a Pentecostal pastor out of Crawford, FL delivers his recorded speech inside a church.

He encourages other pastors in the audience to get involved by signing up members of their congregations.

“The Lord wanted you to be here today,” he says during a recruiting session under a cross. “Can't survive. Can't pay your bills and all of the sudden, the Lord opened a door.”

FHTM says you can make money by representing products your family already uses, like GE, Dish Network, Travelocity, and Home Depot.

“Everyone in this room is familiar with these names on the screen,” said Woodson Gardner, an Executive Sales Manager from Charlotte, NC, as she shows a Power Point presentation featuring the names of  several Fortune 500 companies. “Chances are you are already doing business with them. They factor in your life. They factor in your world.”

But some former representatives we talked to said that the focus of Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing is on anything but the products.

“They don't even train you in how to sell the product,” said Joseph Isaacs of Tampa, who joined Fortune in 2009.

“It's a people mill. They just run them through,” said Isaacs.

“Your promotions are not based on product volume. They're not even based on product sales. They're based on the number of people you bring in and recruit into the business,” Isaacs said.

Recruitment is a recurring theme.

“When you get your first three people signed up, you will have made $300, so you're quickly back to even on your investment,” said Rowland, while pointing to a graph on the screen during his presentation. “Then we'll teach them the exact same thing and everything necessary to repeat the process.”

“If you've got 90 people in the room and five of them are guests, something's wrong. It means you didn't put someone in the car and bring them,” said Mullens, speaking at the church.

Joseph Isaacs brought plenty of people to meetings, and signed them up for FHTM. That helped him quickly rise to the level of Regional Manager.

“98 percent of my income came from recruiting others into the business,” Isaacs said. “I made $16 in residuals in six months.” Residuals are the payments from the sale of products.

The commissions are as low as one-half percent, according to Fortune’s pay structure plan.

“If I got switch my own cell phone over, as an example, I make a $1 a month on my cell phone bill. So I'm making $12 a year. If I switch over somebody else, I make a nickel a month, so I make 60 cents a year.”

But payments received for recruiting new members range from $100 for those at the lowest level to $480 for a National Sales Manager.

Former representatives say that the top National Sales Managers can each make $20,000 on a good night of recruiting, so they constantly tour the country, speaking at local Fortune meetings.

“He's there for one reason and one reason only. When you get in the business, the guy makes $400. So the only thing he cares about is your $400. He doesn't care if you're successful or not. He knows it's a numbers game,” said Isaacs.

WHAS11 talked to another woman who sold her business to join Fortune.

“I can't tell you how stupid I feel that I fell for this,” said the woman, who doesn’t want to be named.

“Once I started doing the numbers, I realized something's terribly wrong here,” she said.

The former Regional Director says Fortune overcharges for many products.

“I called Allstate and asked them how much this package of roadside assistance would be. It was $52 a year. Ours was $191.”

Each Fortune representative is required to buy or sell multiple Fortune products and services in order to accumulate points which allow them to get paid.

Fortune also charges service fees of up to $30 a month just for members to receive weekly commission and bonus checks.

That's in addition to a $299 joining fee, a $250 optional training fee and a $199 annual renewal fee.

Fortune Hi Tech Marketing, headquartered in Lexington, KY, was formed by Paul Orberson and Tom Mills.

Both made millions of dollars in the now-defunct Excell Telecommunications network marketing company, which sold long-distance service in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“Just this year, there have been three magazines, two cover-to-cover, plus there's been a book written about Paul, our company, his journey,” said Knight, showing the magazine and book covers to an audience of potential recruits.

Knight says in the presentation that Fortune has revenues of $500 Million per year.

Yet the whole operation is based in a suite in a Lexington Office building that it shares with several other businesses.

According to Fayette County, KY land records, Fortune does not own the building, which is featured prominently on the company’s website and in marketing  materials.

“If they told you that, the smoke and mirrors would all be gone,” said Isaacs. “They have to have this big facade that they're this giant mushroom.”

WHAS11 News recently went to the corporate headquarters try to learn more.

Adam spoke with Fortune C.E.O. Tom Mills.

Their crew also recorded the interview.

“People, they're having some tough economic times,” said Mills. “There is the possibility that they're willing to work hard, that they can come with our company and make some money.”

“Everybody wants that dream to be able to have your own business. Be able to build something and not have the boss,” Mills said. .

WHAS11 asked Mills about Cease and Desist Orders filed earlier in 2010 in North Dakota and Montana.

The Montana Auditor alleged that Fortune conducted "a pyramid promotional scheme".

Included in the complaint are letters from many of the alleged partner companies saying that they have no direct sales agreements with Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing.

“I have a great deal of respect for the people from both North Dakota and Montana,” Mills said. “The authorities handled it appropriately in my mind, and I think we're moving forward and we're still doing business in their states.”

To continue doing business in those states, Fortune will have to pay about $1 million in fines and refunds. It will also have to change many of its business practices, according to Consent Agreements.

“We can't control, even though we try, everything that's said throughout the country. We're gonna be doing some more concentrated training,” said Mills.

But Joe Isaacs says he doesn't expect the company to really make changes.

“It's an endless recruiting scheme, because it never stops. If you stop recruiting. you don't have any income. You're basically done,” Isaacs said.

(WHAS11)  At 6:00 p.m., we took you inside Kentucky-based Fortune Hi Tech Marketing.

The fast-growing company sells products and services, but former members tell us that they made most of their earnings from recruiting new members.

Fortune is believed to have 200,000 members and revenues of up to $500 million a year.

But the company has also been the target of plenty of complaints, from the Better Business Bureau, to the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, to consumer protection offices in other states.

By most accounts, Fortune Hi Tech Marketing is thriving.

Its members and recruits fill up hotel meeting rooms, churches and even auditoriums nationwide; thanks largely to get rich pitches and relentless pressure to recruit.

“Don’t leave this business!  For your children’s sake!  For your wives and husbands,” pleads Fortune founder Paul Orberson in a video.

“Let’s get you in the system right now,” Pentecostal pastor Kevin Mullens said in a recorded sales pitch.  “Get your game plan.  Get your system.  Get your business paid off.   How soon can you have 5 to 10 people in your house?”

“They announce it at the meetings,” said a former Fortune Regional Manager that WHAS11 interviewed.  “They talk about how much they’ve grown.  Right now, I believe it stands at 200,000.”

But there’s also a growing disillusionment among many Fortune members.  The former Fortune rep quoted above said she sold her business to join the company.

“It’s not right,” said former Fortune Regional Manager Joseph Isaacs.  “There are a lot of people in a recession that are getting burned.  There are a lot of people who are getting hurt,” said Isaacs.

Isaacs said most of the money he earned came from recruiting dozens of new members, not from selling products.

“I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau of Kentucky.  Two weeks later, I got a letter from Fortune telling me I was terminated.  I wasn’t wanted as a rep anymore and it told me to go away,” said Isaacs.

They are not alone in their complaints.

North Dakota and Montana both filed Cease and Desist orders against the company.

In Montana, the state auditor describes the company as a “pyramid promotional scheme”, in which most members they contacted earned little or no money.

Fortune had to pay about $1 million as part of a consent agreement reached last month.

Fortune C.E.O. Tom Mills said those incidents were caused by a few people who didn’t understand the business.

“We can’t control everything, though we try, everything that’s said throughout the country,” said Mills.

Mills didn’t tell us much about his company.  “I don’t really know the number of active reps in the country and Canada and the United Kingdom,” he said.

But when pressed, Mills named his top selling product.  “With Dish, we’re one of their top two or three sellers.”

A letter from Dish’s legal department said the company is not a partner of Dish, but a third party contractor, which anyone can become.

GE, Travelocity and Home Depot have written similar letters denying any direct relationship with Fortune.

Some representatives of Fortune claim sales of $500 million a year.  Yet only five dozen people actually work in the rented suite in Lexington, KY which serves as the company’s headquarters.

Employees there aren’t on the phones talking to customers, but to Fortune sales reps from all over the world.

“Kentucky’s our home state and it’s a matter of pride and honor that we stayed here,” Mills said.

The state of Kentucky is now starting to take notice of Fortune, including the Attorney General’s Office.

“We work in conjunction with federal, state and local law enforcement, and with agencies at the federal, state and local level,” Conway said. “We’re aware of the situation.  We’re monitoring it. Besides that, I really can’t say much.”

The Better Business Bureau, which gives the company an “F” rating, has received more than 40 recent complaints.

“From all I can tell about this operation, it’s primarily about recruiting other people into the network,” said Louisville BBB President Charlie Mattingly. “So I would say people should be cautious.”

“Can you make money in this business? No doubt about it,” said Joseph Isaacs.  “You’ve got to recruit tons and tons and tons of people.  If you can’t do that and you want to just sell products, you won’t make very much at all.”

“…this company, you cannot make an income just on your own by selling these items,” said the former rep, who didn’t want to be named.

Former representatives said there are constant recurring fees.

From $299 to sign up, to training costs, to website fees, to mandatory purchases and even charges of up to $30 a month just to get paid.

They quickly add up to several hundred dollars a year.  That’s bad news for the growing ranks of the unemployed who turn to Fortune.

“People, they’re having some tough economic times and there is the possibility that if they’re willing to work hard, that they can come with our company and make some money,” said Fortune C.E.O. Mills.

“Most people that become involved go broke,” said Isaacs.

But a handful of top Fortune managers are also faring well; earning up to $480 for each new recruit who signs up.  Former reps told us that National Sales Managers can earn tens of thousands of dollars on a good night.

“The problem with pyramid plans is that the people on the front-end make money, but the larger number of people on the back-end always lose money,” said Mattingly.

Only time will tell if Fortune will face more governmental actions or keep on growing.

“My goal, obviously, would be to be the biggest, best network marketing company ever,” said Tom Mills.

Wow, I'm glad mlmwatchdog knows how to google.  He has no experience what so ever with FHTM.  People love to feed off of negative shit.  No one wants to talk to someone thats been successful, just those that haven't.  What kind of research is that?  That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of!  Google is nothing but a bathroom wall that quitters love to post their rants.  If you join a business & you don't do anything then you don't make anything.  Wow, imagine that, just like a job, huh?  It doesn't make it illegal or a pyramid or something to avoid just because it didn't work for you.  It just means that you quit because you're lazy I guess.  You couldn't take being rejected because you tried to make it personal.  You think a car salesman sells everyone he talks to a car?  No, but he doesn't go suck his thumb when he doesn't & quit or call car selling a scam.

Joe Issacs started a website when he was in FHTM called fortunesocial.com where he was charging other reps money for information.  Former Assistant U.S. Attorney General Judy Hammersmidth ask him to remove the site because he was trying to profit off of other reps which is against policy or she would terminate him.  He refused & told her that if he was terminated that he would make life hell for FHTM.  When he was kick out, he began slandering the company, calling ABC news & NBC news & making bogus claims.  He falsified documents, made false claims, & even claimed that he himself was a lawyer.  FHTM filed a suit aginst him & he is currently facing jail time for what he has done.

The truth is that every Multi-Level Marketing company has been called a pyramid scheme at some point by people that don't understand the concept, even Amway & they've been around over 50 years & are an international company.  None of them are even shaped like a triangle or pyramid because no business works perfectly.  Some do more than others & others do nothing so it looks more like a spiderweb.  Most companies are based solely on residual income from what you sell every month.  If you didn't build a team, then you'd have to do all the selling yourself.  Corporations love marketing companies because they can move so much product by word of mouth instead of those companies paying for expensive advertising.  We do business in all 50 states & 4 countries & are branching into more thanks to Judy Hamersmidth, former assistant US Attorney General under Ronald Reagan.  She took Herbalife into over 50 countries & now heads up our legal team!  We have an awesome legal team that also includes 2 former state attorney generals that make sure that FHTM abides by each state's laws because each state has different laws when it comes to network marketing, especially North Dakota & Montana.  We were ordered to restructure in those 2 states & are happy to say they are now thriving. 

What sets FHTM apart from others is the fact that we were started debt free, stockholder free, & investor free & still remain that way 10 years later.  That means that we keep what we make & we don't have to answer to anyone.   A lot of companies like pre-paid legal are publicly traded & bought out by others.   We were also started by the most successful person to ever participate in this industry, Paul Orberson knows what works & what doesn't.  He made over 75 million dollars with a long distance company called Excel Communications.  He left when they went public because he felt that decisions wouldn't be made in the best interests of the representatives.  He started this company with his own money & dedicated to the success of others.  That will never be done again!  When large corporations found out that he had started a company, they flocked to Lexington to try to get on our menu screen.  They want to be align with us because of his previous success.  All we do is gather customers one time & since all the bills are reoccuring, it is not an ongoing selling process.  Paul also implements bonuses because he knows from experience that residual income takes a while to build & he knows that people won't stick around if they can't make money within a week or two.  These companies pay out bonuses for team building because each new person is bringing in at least 10 more customers for these companies & were getting paid on their bills too!  If you work harder than someone above you then you make more & can pass them in rank & that's very fair!  This is the most simple & perfect business if you're not afraid of hard work because it's recession proof because no one will stop paying their power bill, gas bill, phone bill, tv bill, or internet bill just to name a few!

Wow, the truth shall set you free!

Great post, Watchdog.  That's one of the most in-depth articles about FHTM I've read yet.  Fact is, I'm not sure they are a 'pyramid scheme', but they've set themselves up to fail with low residual commissions and high sign-on bonuses.  If the government doesn't shut them down, a grawing barrage of negative press will.  Funny, founders were former Excel reps, and this is part of the problem Excel had!

FHTMrep - you need to put down either the cup of coffee or the FHTM kool-aid for a bit.  Watchdog's post was FULL of items you can either verify or refute, but you instead come out slinging insults, and calling people quitters, then blaming the woes of the company on Joe Issacs?

I don't care how long the company has been around, how much is sells a year, how many people have been sweet talked into it.  A scam is a scam, proven by Enron and Madoff and (according to Perry, Social Security).

I'm an MLM Advocate and actively involved in mine - but your reply to watchdog only hurts your company, coming across like a temper tantrum.  From what I see, their pay structure is loaded to sign-on bonuses and very little from products.  Please help all us 'losers' who don't "get" FHTM because we're "Lazy" understand the company.

Oh, BTW, the Better Business Bureau is a joke.  That's why we aren't members.  If you haven't noticed that, then check out corporations that are actually members.  They will be high-lighted in BLUE.  Check out how many complaints that some have like Walmart & Toyota & then look at their ratings.  Toyota has killed several people & they have a great rating!  They give you a better score if you are a member, plain & simple.  Check it out!

there is nothing else to say really .  we are structured as a twenty first century distribution model like walmart which means that we aren't tied to any one product or service which means that we can change with the times.  we were started by the most successful person ever in mlm which leaves us as a target to other companies trying to bad mouth us to recruit people.  we aren't limited to a handful of products.  we have everything.  paul knows what works & what doesn't.  i can go online & find something negative about any company if i want to waste time doing it but i'd rather go work my business & help others change their lives.

Lets see, your post was in August and since no one has bothered to tell you that they ( FHTM) was not winning their case , they opted to withdraw and mutually settle against Isaacs. Info found on www.fhtmscamnews.com

I have to correct you on your info. At no time did Fortune Social ever sell anything. I was a networking site to promote FHTM and other network marketing companies. No monies were ever charged or gained from this.

Judy Hammersmidt was never an assist AG, She worked for the AGs office, more like a glorified secretary...a totally different title. She has also been let go by the FHTM.

She is more like hammershit now.  Failed at running the company, failed at running her restaurant....just flat failed at everything.

The case against him was because he was using the word "Fortune" which they claimed to own, yet the real owner of that name "Time Inc" stepped in stopping the lawsuit from continuing with that false info being persued by the FHTM so called legal team. So Isaacs won. He has never gone to jail nor has he lost at this case there was never any chance of him going to jail..it was a civil case dummy!. You sir are the one who is wrong about all of this. Apparently the lies coming out of home office is so sugared that you are being lead to believe lies...imagine that!

Now as far as these companies lining up....the only time companies lined up was after the news came out that Home Depot, GE, ATT, Time Inc and others good names were being used to attempt to legitimize the company. So they all filed cease orders against the company and Fortune had to stop using their products, logos and names.

Montana never reversed their decision on the fact that how the company was being promoted was illegal. THE ONLY WAY THEY GOT TO COME BACK TO THE STATE WAS TO CHANGE THEIR PAY PLAN!

Look at the website www.fhtmscamnews.com and you will see alll of the new stories regarding the illegal acitivities of this company.

Texas has filed against them too, so are they stupid? No! A state does not make you pay millions if you are doing a legal business! You are a total idiot for not seeing the truth dude. All of the NSM's are all being held responsible for the millions owed to Texas because Fortune has not paid Texas yet! Yea...The dont have the money to pay so they gave them a letter of credit ..so ..so much for being debt free! They were given a year to pay this off! Now that in itself sounds suspicious in they dont have it now, but we need to recruit alot more people to be able to pay this off?!?

 In fact all of the time that Fortune was saying they were debt free, they had a large debt at a bank and once the news came out they ran over and paid it off hoping to not get caught! I would hate to be an NSM with this company because between the class action and the Texas case they are going to be left holding the bag! I bet Paul is not telling them that! Read it for yourself, it does not take a rocket scientist to see how things are going.

When only less that 5% of people make any real kind of money and when an even fewer amount renew the next year..You have to see that they are planning on you failing after six months and use that money and time to prey upon you.

If this company was so good then why was a third case filed against them by Suzanne Combs who signed Trey Knight up and he became a NSM and then the company took her downline,.. rearanged it and took Trey out to give to Todd Rowland? Talk about an  unethical move! They have both left the company and why ( you have to ask yourself) would anyone leave that is that high up to start all over with another company when they were making the big bucks? Why would anyone leave a million dollar income? Maybe because it was all smoke and mirrors!

Before you post anything ever again you better get your shit straight.

I got news for you, Joe Isaacs and the people who filed these cases are not the only ones who are pissed at this company and the more info that comes out the madder everyone gets. I believe this company has given networking such a bad name that anyone who is looking to join a networking company will run from one they have to continually defend. When the DSA wont allow you to come in and the BBB ( who everyone who does not like their score has an issue with) gives you a D- , you cant overlook these items. When you have good networking companies out there that are A rated and DSA members and are not under attack from the states Ags. It Is all about how illegal ( or now operating at the very most in the grey area) they are!

There is not ONE person who works with FHTM that can honestly say they are making more money in residual income than they are in recruitment bonuses. That is illegal and that is all there is to it!

Keith Cuder should have stayed with ACN where the people are good and the company is legal. I am sure he has found that when you run after Hammersmidt -Hammershit you get  Cuder -kuddies!

Who is the most successful person in MLM you are referring to? Are you referring to Paul Orberson?

What company did he earn his success with? Excel?

And what are you basing that measure of success on? Is it based on his own claims and personal bio, or outside sources?

I'm a fact based skeptic. I have never met a network marketing executive who did not claim he was a 'top earner' or 'million dollar earner' with some other company, but they never seem to explain why they 'retired' from a passive income they usually claim was the equivelent of a rock star payday for a double platinum album. All of the ones I've actually known personally - even the ones who were legitimately earning 6 figures a month - never ever let on when their income started to slip ( or failed ) and they had to start searching for a new company, or launch one of their own.

It takes a lot of cash to maintain the 'lifestyle' that inspires others to put money into a deal. The big house ( usually leased ), the sports car ( usually repossessed ), the smoking hot girlfriend ( usually leaves with the kid and a fat alimony payment )...all that's left after that are big stories about big checks and sometimes a bunk bed at their parents house in Nevada.

Steve Smith claims he was the top earner at Excel. He too has launched other companies, using the same pitch as Paul Orberson. Who is the real "top earner at Excel" or the "top earner in network marketing history"?