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Online extortion gangs run by the journalists.
Readers of BehindMLM.com calling it out for its malpractices – Example 1
However, that differs from other MLM news or review websites such as BehindMLM.com, CryptoFR.com, JournalduCoin.com, etc. Most of these websites are notorious for blackmailing MLM companies outright and extorting money from them, directly or indirectly. What’s the modus operandi, you ask? From what we have understood so far, it’s a simple yet ruthlessly effective business model.
How Do the MLM Review Websites Such as BehindMLM.com Operate?
These review websites first lay a trap by publishing a biased and defamatory article on the target MLM brand or company. After that, they populate these blog posts with derogatory and made-up comments using a dummy and anonymous set of profiles controlled by the same group of people running the said review website. What happens next is easy for anyone to guess.
Upon seeing the articles, the MLM companies are forced to contact the review website. At that point, the journalists running these bogus review websites share their prices with the company for taking down negative blog posts. If the company dares not to agree with them, the review website will barrage its brand with more negative articles in the subsequent weeks or months.
“Take a handful of cow crap and throw it against the barn, and some of it will eventually stick.”
~ Anonymous
Ultimately, either the company caves in and coughs up the extortion money that these journalistic gangs demand or weather away from the MLM scene. The greediest of these blogs is, of course, BehindMLM.com. It isn’t a genuine online review blog; people have known it for many years. I have heard the stories of BehindMLM.com behaving like a rabid dog, going after every MLM company until they don’t get their share of the ransom.
The Curious Case of BehindMLM.com Promoters
BehindMLM.com and other vultures like them have survived for so many years, using many dirty tactics and loopholes available to them. One of the most significant loopholes they use to their benefit is staying anonymous online. The editors of BehindMLM.com is a bunch that has worked hard to keep their real identities hidden from the mainstream. However, these BehindMLM.com gangsters are getting exposed now.
Readers of BehindMLM.com calling it out for its malpractices – Example 2
Let’s take a closer look at these lowlife pimps who bring shame to the world of journalism.
BehindMLM.com is an extortion racket set up by a couple of friends called Klaus BARDENHAGEN and Michael TURTON, currently operating out of Taiwan. Klaus Bardenhagen calls himself a freelance journalist from Germany, while Michael Turton is an American who has been settled in Taiwan with his wife Sylvia Shih for the last 30 years. In addition to BehindMLM.com, Michael has tried running a political website called The View from Taiwan. The website was dumped in 2018, most likely because Michael Turton could not pressure the Taiwanese polity with his biased articles and was unsuccessful in extorting anything from them.
Michael Turton
Michael Turton was born on April 17, 1963, and teaches English at the Taichung Municipal Taichung Second Senior High School, No. 109, Yingshi Road, North District, Taichung City, Taiwan 404. He lives at No. 100, Lane 192, Section 1, Fongsing Road, Tanzih District, Taichung, Taiwan 427. His contact details (as of writing this article) are below.
Email: turton.michael@gmail.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/turton.michael
Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelturton
Primary Blog: https://michaelturton.blogspot.com (the now-defunct or abandoned online extortion scheme called The View from Taiwan).
Interestingly, Michael Turton, the 57-year-old married man, is quite active on the Taiwanese dating scene. I’m not sure if it is his hobby or a means to spend all the ill-gotten money he extorts from the MLM industry, but he certainly has an active account on the Taiwanese dating website, TaiwanSingles.com. A simple Google search (this link here) will lead you to his online dating profile.
Michael Turton’s dating profile on Taiwan Singles as shown on Google.com.
Notice how, on his dating profile summary, he proudly mentions that he has lived in Taiwan for the last 30 years. It suggests that this online dating profile of Michael Turton is an active one and that he updates or maintains it regularly. Now think about it for a moment. In what world does an honest man let alone a serious journalist get the time to create and maintain an extramarital dating lifestyle? It can only happen in Michael Turton’s world.
Michael Turton, the 57-year-old married man, posing for his dating website profile.
Klaus Bardenhagen
Michael’s partner-in-crime and long-time associate, Klaus Bardenhagen, also operates from Taiwan. We know that he is a German citizen born in the year 1976. He shares the false name of “OZ” with Michael Turton to post their biased articles and comments on BehindMLM.com. Klaus, currently living at No. 102, Hou Kang Street, Shilin District, Tapei, Taiwan 111, has another active base at Haupstrasse 25, Ebersdorf, Germany 27432.
The contact details of Klaus Bardenhagen (as of writing this article) are as given below.
Tel: +886 987 985 070
Facebook: https://facebook.com/taiwanreporter and https://facebook.com/klaus.bardenhagen
Twitter: https://twitter.com/taiwanreporter
Blog: https://weltreporter.net/en/author/Klaus_Bardenhagen
Email: bardenhagen@weltreporter.net, brennpunkttaipeh@gmx.de
Much like Michael Turton, Klaus Bardenhagen is also currently attempting to establish himself as a journalist within Taiwan. The two co-conspirators of BehindMLM.com are now busy working on a new brand called Taiwan Report. It is a small and obscure YouTube channel that started about a year ago, in June 2019, as a political commentary called ‘Current Affairs Taiwan.’
Hosts Michael Turton and Courtney Donovan Smith handle the front end of the channel. Klaus Bardenhagen mostly takes care of the onsite reporting bit of the business. Michael Turton tried his best for over 6-8 months to gain some traction by posing in front of the commentaries. However, he soon realized it was not working out for the channel.
He and his partners have now taken a new route and remodeled their YouTube channel as a podcast, rebranding it as ‘Taiwan Report.’ Still, the YouTube business has seen little to no growth at all. Today, it has a meager 27k views, nearly 200 videos, and only a handful of 600+ subscribers. Sad state indeed! You can see the clear difference in their approach from the screenshots below.
Videos from 2019 – Taiwan Report (Michael’s face plastered all over).
Videos from 2020 – Taiwan Report (Michael’s face missing from the scenes).
Glaring Proof of Lies and Deceit Perpetrated by BehindMLM.com
Before writing this article, I wanted to disbelieve all the complaints I heard about BehindMLM.com and its promoters. I was partial and open to giving Michael and Klaus the benefit of the doubt. After all, going against the Ponzi schemes comes with its own set of troubles. We at TheMLMReport.com know it well and have repeatedly faced threats for writing the truth.
However, when I learned that a well-known lawyer in Philadelphia was chasing BehindMLM.com and its founders with a legal action based on concrete proof, it changed my mind. I felt prompted to do some investigation into the said allegations on BehindMLM.com and its promoters’ activities. I must admit that the journey has been quite an eye-opener so far.
Readers of BehindMLM.com calling it out for its malpractices – Example 3
The questionable backgrounds of Michael Turton and his buddy Klaus Bardenhagen are already out in the open. The unlawful activities of BehindMLM.com, their ill-written articles, manufactured and dubious comments, and inflated traffic are all stories proven to be correct. Still, there has to be more to it. Is BehindMLM.com playing the role of a double-edged sword for a select few?
What if BehindMLM.com was hand-in-gloves with some of the select MLM players who were willing to pay Michael Turton and Klaus Bardenhagen for a softer personal and professional approach to their brand. If you think about it and are like me, who knows where to look, you will find proof of this too.
What’s Next for BehindMLM.com and Its Promoters?
Based on the information I gathered from reliable sources, one thing is for sure, the days of extortion racket BehindMLM.com seem numbered. From the USA to Timbuktu, the amount of defamation lawsuits filed against BehindMLM.com today is increasing daily. The road ahead for the two extortionists, Michael Turton and Klaus Bardenhagen, is challenging.
The general public has become more aware of what the promoters of BehindMLM.com stand for and how they play the dirty game of influencing public opinion for or against any MLM company to make some quick money. The slander cases, character assassination, and blackmail involving BehindMLM.com, Michael Turton, and Klaus Bardenhagen are too far-reaching and devastating.
Many countries’ law enforcement authorities are already working to determine how much Michael and Klaus have damaged the MLM industry. With more and more voices rising against these fraudster journalists, greater truth will turn out in the open, undoubtedly leading to the demise of BehindMLM.com and similar websites that operate them.
My investigation will continue with the journey of BehindMLM.com and its promoters and founders, Michael Turton and Klaus Bardenhagen. I will return to share more news and findings I get my hands on as and when that happens. Till then, you be aware of these sharks hiding behind their journalistic front, and when researching any new MLM company, stay focused on finding out the truth on your own.
If you are interested in other sources online that have expressed their opinion on BehindMLM.com and its dodgy, sinister activities against the MLM industry, feel free to check out these links below.
Klaus Bardenhagen – The Blackmailer
Update: The original link to the article has been removed for some reason. However, it can still be accessed using its archived version, the link is given below.
Klaus Bardenhagen & Michael Turton Biography
The MLM Report strongly believes that the growing attempts to hush debate, stifle news, and remove information from any public domain must be thwarted at all times and that all independent media that are free of influence by government or corporate interests are one of the best, if not the only, means of keeping the honest discussions alive today. As a part of that, we welcome contributions from anyone on topics ranging from a general interest in network marketing to major inside scoops of what is happening in your network marketing company; feel free to submit your article with us. We promise to publish them as long as they meet our publishing guidelines, no matter how controversial they might be.
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