Robert L. FitzPatrick
{{Short description|American writer}}
Robert Lawrence FitzPatrick is an author. He serves as president of Pyramid Scheme Alert, a consumer organization to confront the abuses of pyramid schemes.[http://pyramidschemealert.org/about-2/board-of-directors/robert-fitzpatrick/ Robert FitzPatrick | Pyramid Scheme Alert]
Biography
=Early career=
Fitzpatrick's interest in pyramid schemes was sparked in the 1980s when he joined a business with a multi-level, direct-sales model. While Fitzpatrick didn't lose money, he did witness first-hand how one could get sucked into what he called "delusional behavior".{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2013/01/09/multilevel-marketing-critic-beware-main-street-bubble.html|title=Multi-Level Marketing Critic: Beware 'Main Street Bubble'|website=CNBC|date=9 January 2013}}
=Author=
FitzPatrick is the co-author of the self-published book False Profits: Seeking Financial and Spiritual Deliverance in Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Schemes ({{ISBN|0-964879-514}}),{{cite web|url=http://search.barnesandnoble.com/False-Profits/Robert-L-Fitzpatrick/e/9780964879515/?itm=1&USRI=fitzpatrick+false+profits
|title=False Profits - Robert L FitzPatrick - Book - Barnes & Noble
|accessdate=2009-11-26
|publisher=Barnes & Noble}} a 1997 critical book that examines the multi-level marketing industry. He has followed it up with his book Ponzinomics: The Untold Story of Multi-Level Marketing.[https://pyramidschemealert.org/ Pyramidschemealert website]
=Speaker=
FitzPatrick has been featured on Fraud Squad TV,{{cite web|url=http://fraudcast.ca/docs/Pyramid_Ponzi_Scams_Fraud.php
|title=Fraud Library - Pyramid & Ponzi Schemes Fraud
|accessdate=2009-11-26
|publisher=Fraud Squad TV}} ABC World News{{cite web
|url=https://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/gifting_scam021101.html
|title=ABC News - Multimillion Dollar Scam Exploits Women
|accessdate=2009-11-26
|publisher=ABC World News Archive |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20040803201247/https://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/gifting_scam021101.html |archivedate = 2004-08-03}} and WTTW's Chicago Matters.
{{cite web
|url=http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=1,17,1,4
|title=WTTW Chicago Matters - Money Talks - Is It a Pyramid Scheme
|accessdate=2009-11-26
|publisher=WTTW Archive
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091106000652/https://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=1,17,1,4
|archive-date=2009-11-06
|url-status=dead
}}
He has been interviewed live on CBC's Marketplace.{{cite news
|url=http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2009/easy_money/main.html
|title=Easy Money - Buying Into the Pitch to Become Rich - CBC News Marketplace
|accessdate=2009-11-26
|publisher=CBC Marketplace}} He has been quoted in newspapers and journals, including The Wall Street Journal{{cite news|last=|first=|date=28 January 2009|title=In Echoes Of Madoff, Ponzi Cases Proliferate (1-28-2009)|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123310397888922265|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919102942/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123310397888922265|archive-date=2015-09-19|accessdate=2009-11-26|website=|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|last1=Stecklow|first1=Steve}}{{cite news
|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB114117720115886022 |title=Online 'Autosurf' Scams Use Legal Businesses to Flourish - Partial Article (3-1-2006)|accessdate=2009-11-26 |publisher=The Wall Street Journal | first=Mark | last=Maremont | date=2006-03-01}} and The New York Times.{{cite news
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/jobs/15sales.html
|title=Direct Sales as a Recession Fallback - NY Times
|accessdate=2009-11-26
|work=The New York Times
|first=Eilene
|last=Zimmerman
|date=2009-03-15}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.falseprofits.com/}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100314013157/http://www.falseprofits.com/FalseProfitsBlog.html Robert L. FitzPatrick Official False Profits Blog]
- [http://www.pyramidschemealert.org/ Pyramid Scheme Alert - Homepage]
- [http://www.pyramidschemealert.org/PSAMain/resources/MLMReality.html Robert L. FitzPatrick Interview on Charlotte Talks Radio Show (12-4-2006)]
- [http://www.pyramidschemealert.org/PSAMain/resources/FalseProfits.html Robert L. FitzPatrick Interview - ZenBiz Radio]
- [http://www.pyramidschemealert.org/PSAMain/resources/MLMasConsumerFraud.html Robert L. FitzPatrick - Speech at the annual meeting of the Association of Certified Fraud Specialists in San Francisco (September, 2006)]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, Robert}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:American non-fiction writers