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Robert L. FitzPatrick

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Robert L. FitzPatrick
Born
Robert Lawrence FitzPatrick

1946 or 1947
Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
CitizenshipUnited States of America
EducationBelmont Abbey College (BA)
Notable work
  • False Profits: Seeking Financial and Spiritual Deliverance in Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Schemes
  • Ponzinomics: The Untold Story of Multi-Level Marketing
Websitewww.pyramidschemealert.org

Robert Lawrence FitzPatrick (born 1946 or 1947) is an American author and writer. He serves as president of Pyramid Scheme Alert,[1] a consumer organization to confront the abuses of pyramid schemes.

Biography

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Early life and education

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FitzPatrick was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina to Thomas Raymond Fitzpatrick Sr. and Kathleen Ann Frank.[2][3] FitzPatrick is the youngest of his two siblings.[4] FitzPatrick graduated from Charlotte Catholic High School in 1964.[5] FitzPatrick then attended Belmont Abbey College, and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology in 1968.[6][7]

Career

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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".[8]

Author

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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),[9] a 1997 critical book that examines the multi-level marketing (MLM) industry. He has followed it up with his book Ponzinomics: The Untold Story of Multi-Level Marketing (ISBN 978-0-57-844351-5) in 2021.[10] The title: Ponzinomics is a portmanteau of Ponzi and Economics that "captures two realities of multilevel marketing": that it's both a pyramid scheme and a cult with a "belief system and... ideology"[11]

Speaker

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FitzPatrick has been featured on Fraud Squad TV,[12] ABC World News[1] and WTTW's Chicago Matters.[13] He has been interviewed live on CBC's Marketplace.[14] He has been quoted in newspapers and journals, including The Wall Street Journal[15][16] and The New York Times.[17]

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Personal life

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FitzPatrick is of Italian descent.[2]

Reference

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  1. ^ a b "ABC News - Multimillion Dollar Scam Exploits Women". ABC World News Archive. Archived from the original on 2004-08-03. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
  2. ^ a b "Kathleen Frank Fitzpatrick". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. p. 3B – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Thomas "Fitz" Fitzpatrick, Jr. (November 12, 1938 - July 31, 2021)". The Charlotte Observer. Vol. 152, no. 219. Charlotte, North Carolina. August 7, 2021. p. 7A – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Carolina; Roll: 1121; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 102-118B [1]
  5. ^ Balog, Robert; McClain, Gary, eds. (1964). 1964. Charlotte, North Carolina: Charlotte Catholic High School. pp. 28, 61–62, 75, 80, 128, 135 – via Classmates.
  6. ^ "Robert Fitzpatrick Warns Readers of the Dangers of Multi-Level Marketing in "Ponzinomics"". Charlotte Readers Podcast. Charlotte, North Carolina. May 21, 2021.
  7. ^ Sources: * The Spire. Belmont, North Carolina: Belmont Abbey College. 1968. pp. 45, 66, 144, 204 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ "Multi-Level Marketing Critic: Beware 'Main Street Bubble'". CNBC. 9 January 2013.
  9. ^ "False Profits - Robert L FitzPatrick - Book - Barnes & Noble". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
  10. ^ "Robert Fitzpatrick Warns Readers of the Dangers of Multi-Level Marketing in "Ponzinomics"". Charlotte Readers Podcast. Charlotte, North Carolina. May 21, 2021.
  11. ^ Savage, Luke (November 5, 2021). ""Multilevel Marketing" Companies Cheat and Exploit Ordinary People on a Vast Scale". Jacobin.
  12. ^ "Fraud Library - Pyramid & Ponzi Schemes Fraud". Fraud Squad TV. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
  13. ^ "WTTW Chicago Matters - Money Talks - Is It a Pyramid Scheme". WTTW Archive. Archived from the original on 2009-11-06. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
  14. ^ "Easy Money - Buying Into the Pitch to Become Rich - CBC News Marketplace". CBC Marketplace. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
  15. ^ Stecklow, Steve (28 January 2009). "In Echoes Of Madoff, Ponzi Cases Proliferate (1-28-2009)". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2015-09-19. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
  16. ^ Maremont, Mark (2006-03-01). "Online 'Autosurf' Scams Use Legal Businesses to Flourish - Partial Article (3-1-2006)". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
  17. ^ Zimmerman, Eilene (2009-03-15). "Direct Sales as a Recession Fallback - NY Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
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