Mike and Darren live the good life in Canada as their MLM Pyramid Scam goes after the savings of ordinary Bhutanese

The Bhutanese has found that the two masterminds behind the major Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) Pyramid Scheme in Bhutan selling expensive Enagic Water Ionizers are two men named Mike Dreher and Darren Ewert based in Vancouver, Canada.

The couple run a large online network called the ‘Dream Team’, which is the main force behind recruiting many Bhutanese in Bhutan and also Australia into its ranks as ‘Digital Business Owners.’

While Enagic is a MLM company in Japan, it heavily utilizes people like Mike and Darren to get people to buy their machines.

This network of Mike and Darren has around 100,000 members, focused mainly in Asian countries with the majority coming from the Philippines.

Big Money

It is this network where Bhutanese are made to pay USD 149 to join with USD 20 to set up a website, and another Nu 550,000 or more in buying overpriced Enagic water ionizers which enables them to become distributors.

Mike and Darren pocket the USD 149 and also receive major commissions on the sales made by their Dream Team members in Bhutan.

With around 100,000 members worldwide, the two would easily make USD 14.9 million (mn) in just the USD 149 fees.

Even if half of the members, at 50,000, bought the machines to be distributors, the two would have made between USD 200 mn and 300 mn in sales, of which a large chunk of commission would go to the two. In the future, when these distributors recruit other members through sales, a chunk of their commission would again go to Mike and Darren.

The pictures of the two can be seen on the screenshot taken by some distributors in Bhutan when the couple give the occasional ‘mastermind’ webinar.

Under investigation by BBB

In late 2019, Better Business Bureau (BBB), a non-profit and reputed business rating agency that has rated around 400,000 businesses in USA and Canada, opened its investigation into the ‘Better Life Buzz’ (BLB) online platform used by the duo (among other platforms) to funnel people into the ‘Dream Team,’ after complaints were filed against the duo.

BBB said the free 60- to 90-minute webinar is more aspirational and motivational than informative. It does not provide any specific details about the affiliate marketing program.

The few mentions of the program do not provide enough details for a viewer to understand how the program operates or what their investment will be.

They mention access to mentors, high-commission products, and a sales funnel but do not go into any detail about what the viewer is expected to do to earn six to seven figures in a year.

BBB says the webinar also does not mention why they offer this program to others.

On 16 August 2019, BBB asked BLB to provide some information. One is the average, median and earnings range for people using the program. Another is that the webinar mentions a proven sales funnel, and so how is the sales funnel proven. It also asked other questions. The BBB has not received any response to the questions.

With no response from its two main MLM agents, BBB downgraded Enagic’s ratings from A+ to C-.

A Facebook business page

The two also have a business Facebook page called ‘Darren and Mike’, which promotes their business albeit in a mysterious and intransparent way lacking specifics. It gives generic social media advertising tips and also engages in lifestyle marketing of exotic food, locations, home upgrades, etc.

Since Facebook prohibits advertising on its page for ‘get rich quick schemes’ or schemes that offer abnormal and unrealistic returns like MLM companies, members of the ‘Dream Team’ regularly see their Facebook advertisement accounts disabled or restricted.

On 2 February 2022, the Darren and Mike Facebook page posted a live webinar offering its members information on creating a new business page, blocking Facebook cookies and tracking, changing the Wi-Fi configuration, changing the server access and IP address if needed, when to run new ads, what type of ads to start with, and how to win Facebook’s trust back.

Incredibly, Darren and Mike are suggesting ways for its members to get around Facebook’s safety systems, which do not allow MLM schemes.

This may also explain why sponsored Facebook advertisements put out by the ‘Dream Team’ members, including in Bhutan, are very careful not to mention their MLM marketing or products and are generic ones about how the ‘digital business’ changed their lives, etc. They would get blocked or restricted if Facebook got wind of what they are actually promoting.

This means that the online distributors in Bhutan are promoting a business model on Facebook that is actually banned by Facebook, and so they have to use various tricks to ensure that Facebook does not ban or restrict them.

A former insider spills the beans

A former member of this dream team, Leonard Henry, who currently resides in London, exposed how manipulative the recruitment is.

Like many in Bhutan, he saw the digital business through a Facebook advertisement while scrolling Facebook feed that talked about running an online business, quitting the 9 to 5 job, living the lifestyle they desire, etc.

He registered through the Facebook business page and saw a 90-minute webinar that did not tell him about the service or the product. The presenters at the time were Mike and Darren.

This was followed by the USD 149 offer to access more materials. After paying the money, some links were sent to watch the mystery product, the Enagic Water Ionizers. It is still not revealed that a person has to buy one of the machines to become a distributor mandatorily.

He said after watching these videos, Mike will encourage the person to make a strategy call with a coach. If the call is made, then the USD 149 is not refundable.

Once a person makes the call, the ‘coach’ will tell you you must buy at least one USD 4,000 Enagic machine to be a member.

Leonard says, “At this stage, reality will step in, and you will realize that you will not be able to get your money back, so you either have to continue your journey with the Dream Team or you will easily lose USD 149.”

He further added, “At this stage, I was now saying to myself, what have I done? Unfortunately, it was too late so I had to carry on. The machine I bought at the time was the SD501 model which cost me USD 4,000.”

For those who do not have enough savings to make this huge payment, there are two additional options given. One is to take out a bank loan and buy the machine, and other is to take out a credit card and make a down payment and then make the remaining payments each month for a year plus. A similar financing scheme is available to Bhutanese members.

After filling in the paper work with help from a ‘mentor’, he got his ID and access to online Digital Marketing training. However, Leonard says the training did not do much for him, as it was very basic with the resources already available for free online, and the main thing he was told was to create Facebook advertisements to get leads.

This created the next financial headache as Leonard realized there were not many takers for an overpriced water ionizer being sold through the MLM route. He said he spent USD 10 per day in Facebook advertisements, which came to around USD 300 per month. However, of the 100 leads he got, nobody took the USD 149 offer, and thus, he made no money, as his money would only come from commissions on the machine on recruiting a new member.

With Facebook banning MLM advertising, his Facebook ads account was shutdown, and he had to use a spare Facebook account.

Leonard said that if the two had simply told people they had to buy expensive machines and recruit other people to do the same to earn commissions, then people would not have been interested.

This is why people are misled through a sales funnel above, where they think they are getting trained or help to run an online business. He said Mike and Darren used deceptive methods to lure vulnerable individuals.

Leonard sold his machine at one fourth of the price on eBay.

A scam

A September 2021 article in medium.com by James W. exposes Mike and Darren of running a scam.

James defines a scam as a dishonest scheme or fraud and lists five reasons why it is a scam.

The first is false advertising or dishonesty, as you are tricked into thinking you are joining an online training or business system. Still, in reality, you’re charged USD 149 to be convinced to become an Enagic distributor and buy an overpriced water machine.

The second criteria is secrecy, as they go unnoticed by not identifying the business with a defined public brand, and it is more difficult to find information about them on the Internet.

“When you join, they ask you not to share information outside the group, neither the private group nor the company’s name, and basically nothing. The Facebook groups are secret by design. The less people know, the better,” writes James.

Third is social network abuse as Facebook forbids “advertisements promoting business models offering quick compensation for little investment, including multilevel marketing opportunities.”

Fourth, it is a predatory scheme that targets people with minimal computer literacy, experiencing hardships, with promises of easy money—a typical “get-rich-quick” scheme.

The fifth reason he gives is selling the lifestyle as the whole marketing pitch these two do is based on the ‘financial freedom dream’. He says only a very small number actually make money.

Foundscam.com, which identifies scams, also lists the network run by Mike and Darren as a scam. The site says it has noticed recently that the Asian market is flooded with ‘Online Digital Business’. The ads come from different people, and it is not one person. But it is all a chain of affiliates.

He says these people don’t care if you succeed or fail. They only care if their affiliate scam continues and whether they get money.

Similarly, there are other online videos and resources, which point to duo as a scam.

Mind Control

One surprising aspect of this scam by Mike and Darren in Bhutan is how many well educated Bhutanese, like civil servants, corporate employees, bank employees, Bhutanese in Australia and others have fallen for it, and even today, despite the revelations, many of them defend the scam vociferously.

This is where another dark aspect of the scam comes into play, in the form of indoctrination and mind control.

Again, another former dream team member, Alanda Carter, has released several YouTube videos with a lot of material on her experience and research.

She said that from the very beginning, the potential recruits are told that they are ‘independent business owners’ or ‘entrepreneurs’ and the network supports each other to mutually succeed.

She says that one of the videos they show to the members is a video on ‘mind shift’ by controversial speaker Tony Robbins. Robbins uses the theory of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), which is used by many MLMs.

Alanda said under NLP adherents claim there is a connection between neurological processes and language and behavioral patterns learned through experience programming, and these can be changed to achieve specific goals in life.

She said, “An alarm goes off for me since it means you are being indoctrinated.  It gets you to believe you can reprogram your mind to get a particular goal and doing so blames you if you do not get results.” She also said the blame is not put on a flawed business model, and instead the individual is blamed.

“Your massive action here will be to spend money on Facebook advertisements so that you can get other people to go to the landing page to take the USD 149 course and become Enagic distributors,” she added.

She says the whole recruitment process involves a person being primed to pay for the machine, with promises of access to a team, like-minded entrepreneurs, ongoing training, etc., and being told it is an investment.

She said the reality is that the person buying the machine is not an entrepreneur, but a contractor.

One part of being a member is the weekly ‘mastermind sessions’, touching base with the mentor or coach and being active in their community.

“This is where more of the brainwashing occurs by watching the weekly mastermind seminars,” said Alanda.

Though the members are entering an MLM Pyramid Scheme, they are told this is not an MLM pyramid model or a get-rich-quick scheme.

Members are told to ‘start living the life you deserve’, create a business page on Facebook under the entrepreneur option, and engage in ‘attraction marketing’.

Members are told to post three to five times a day. Alanda said that is a lot, and people do not realize they are competing not only with fellow members but also with Mike and Darren, who have far more resources. She said she spent around USD 1,500 but only got around 1,700 likes and 8 leads.

She said the videos do not show who made how much money, the success and failure rate, and how many people have left the scheme.

Referring to the use of NLP in MLMs, Alanda said people need to learn how intelligent people get caught up by MLMs, like in cults.

Even in the community chats, people who ask uncomfortable questions are asked not to be negative and those who raise criticism are kicked out of the group.

Alanda also talked about the harassment techniques that Mike and Darren use to target their critics. One popular approach is to send legal notices and sue people, and another is to get their members to dislike her videos and post abusive comments. Alanda said the duo is particularly sensitive to having their picture put up.

Mike and Darren’s past

An article by Anna’s Analysis shows that it all started with a group called Project AWOL, founded in 2012 or 2013 by Keala Kanae and Kameron George. Project AWOL placed 2nd and 4th in a 2016 Enagic sales contest.

There were also a few members of AWOL that went on to create their own Enagic training platforms

Two other guys who were in AWOL are Mathieu Jang and Julian Sherman. They created Global Affiliate Zone in 2016 and rebranded it to Affiliate Institute in 2019. Kameron from AWOL also co-founded both of them.

Global Affiliate Zone, or GAZ, seemed to focus more on Enagic. In the first 15 months of GAZ, 31 people out of around 9,000 members made over $100,000.

Darren and Mike founded a branch off of GAZ in 2016. They also have platforms called Wealth Achieved, previously called Work Shop Replay, It’s My Time Today, Achieve Freedom Today, and Better Life Buzz. These are basically five roads that all lead to the same place: the Dream Team.

Anna’s Analysis says that it seems to be working out for them, though. Mike, as of August 2020, is at least 6A2-3, and Darren is at least 6A2-4, which is a very high rank in the pyramid with significant financial compensation.

In Bhutan, there are also offline Enagic dealers who sell the machines. While there is no USD 149 fee, these dealers also try to recruit people downline to sell the machine, as they would also get a commission.

Mike and Darren do not answer questions but block the reporter

This reporter sent Mike and Darren a list of 10 questions through a message on their Facebook page. The Facebook icon for read messages show that they saw the questions, but they did not answer them.

The questions asked them about their response to the fact that a lot of online resources and articles called their network a MLM Pyramid Scheme, and on them being called manipulative in recruiting people and making them buy the machines.

They were questioned about why the vast majority of their members lose money while only a few at the top make money. They were also asked why their machines are so overpriced with no credible medical benefits but still make false medical claims.

They were asked about the number of members in Bhutan and the success or failure rate of Bhutanese and if they could share this data with them.

The reporter also asked them why their scheme is so secretive in Bhutan and about false advertising charges. They were also asked if they are aware that MLM Pyramid schemes are illegal in Bhutan, and who would be legally accountable once the authorities take action.

After reading the questions the duo blocked the reporter from their business page instead.

What are the regulators doing?

It has been learnt that the Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) has already launched an investigation and will soon release a report on the issue.

Once the OCP report is out, the Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) is also expected to take action on the financial side. The Financial Intelligence Department and Department of Foreign Exchange are already looking into the issue, and the Bhutan CIRT is also on board.

In the meantime, the Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA) President, Wangdi Gyeltshen, said that Enagic Machines and Kangen Water are not registered with them so the distributors should not make any claims of medical benefits. Enagic machine sellers and Kangen water distributors have been making medical claims in Bhutan.

He said any drugs or medical equipment coming to Bhutan should register with DRA and provide medical studies to back their claims. He said action is taken against those making false medical claims.

One issue coming up is the fact that those who create or spread pyramid schemes in Bhutan are not adequately prosecuted, which is why it does not serve as a deterrent.

Here, an OCP officer said if provisions apply, they can apply fines and penalties under the OCP rules and also for violations of trade rules, like carrying out business without a license.

In the meantime, the Dream Team members in Bhutan have written to the MoEA Minister, Lyonpo Loknath Sharma, requesting the ministry to allow them to do their business in Bhutan.

One of the offline distributors even publicly claims to have made a presentation to the Prime Minister.

In September 2019, the former Labour Minister Ugyen Dorji (now the Home Minister) was the main guest at the launch of an Enagic machine outlet marketing Kangen water, though it is likely that the minister was not aware of the controversy behind the product he was launching.

However, the official launch by a minister has led to some government officials mistakenly thinking that the business is sanctioned by the government, which is not the case.