Dawn Picken: Why I believe multi-level marketing schemes are like cults 5 May, 2021 10:00 PM 4 minutes to read Experts say MLMs are similar to pyramid schemes, writes Dawn Picken. Photo / Getty Rotorua Daily Post I think several of my friends have joined cults. These are not hippy types who wear robes and renounce material pleasures. Among my cult-indoctrinated peers are medical professionals, an accountant, several stay-at-home mums and an artist. They belong to different groups with a common theme: many members fail. Multi-level marketing schemes, or MLMs, are using Covid to grow, according to a variety of publications, including The New York Times, Time Magazine and The Atlantic.