Rob Fore is a well known online marketer who possesses a large following of people and recommends which products to try. But is he a scam artist?
I say no.
I do believe he is trying to help people succeed online, but the reason I ask this is in the first place is because through careful investigation I noticed a very questionable pattern of bad advice from this guy which I would like to share with you today and anyone looking to get advice from him.
Though everything I write in this review is a personal opinion and there is no ill intention whatsoever towards Rob, I want to explain why it is I do NOT recommend taking advice from this guy.
1. Rob Fore’s Multi-Level-Marketing (MLM) Training:
MLM companies are sprouting left n right. Many including myself consider them to be massive pyramid schemes. While this may 
not always be the case, the fact of the matter is MLM companies thrive on having people join them and refer others into their system in order to survive. In many cases these types of business models seem eerily similar to pyramid schemes. Full reason why.
But Rob’s “forte” is to help people learn how to refer clients to MLM companies and profit in the process. A lot of people use predatory methods to lure clients into MLM companies. Rob is not one of these people. He uses friendly approaches and explains how to use seemingly good marketing tactics to help newcomers to MLM companies get more clients and in turn earn more money.
I would honestly have no problems with this approach IF it weren’t for him referring people to companies I consider and have been proven to be scams…
2. Rob Fore & Zeek Rewards:
Zeek Rewards was a VERY popular online marketing opportunity which allowed people to earn points and transfer them into 
money by putting up ads for the company and referring others into the system. It also included a massive investment requirement which many bought into.
However, in August 2012, Zeek Rewards was shut down by the SEC for being a $600 million dollar ponzi scheme. And prior to this happening, I investigated the legitimacy of Zeek Rewards and it was then that I first stumbled onto Rob Fore’s blog where he recommended it.
At the time he seemed to be genuine in promoting it, and because he had such a large following, he would obviously make tons of money in referring people to Zeek Rewards, but I never took the bait and after the fall of the company, I am glad I made that decision. I did however go back to Rob’s blog to see what he would say in regards to this. No mention of him making a mistake whatsoever. Just seemingly demagogue talk to not damage his reputation.
I understand many people made huge mistakes on this company so I gave Rob the benefit of the doubt in spite of him never admitting to the mistake. But then another issue came about…
3. Rob Fore & Empower Network:
When Rob did a review of Empower Network and recommended this program, I lost all of my respect for him. Empower Network is one of the most popular organizations that “teaches” people to earn money online. However, through a VERY deep investigation (full report here), I came to the conclusion that Empower Network was a HUGE scam and pyramid scheme.
This site has massive complaints against it. My biggest pet peeve is their business model. I won’t get into details, but in summary what this business does is lures you into joining it for a small fee, then you find out that in order to make anything from this business, you must join a higher membership level and then lures you into buying VERY expensive products to the tune of $1,000’s.
However, these packages, regardless of their price tag offer you NO real benefit. The only thing they teach you to do is promote Empower Network. This means that when you sign up and start digging yourself into the massive financial black hole it lays out for you, you’ll need to refer others into this same hole to get out of it. This is an absolutely unethical and immoral method of doing business online.
Empower Network only really works for people who possess a large following but even then how could ANY ethical marketer who has that refer them to such a shady company is beyond me. Yet Rob Fore is one of the people who DOES possess a large following and DOES recommend Empower Network. I sense a conflict of interest. But I’ll let you be the judge.
This is where my issue with Rob began to take shape. Rob who is seemingly a smart marketer must understand the unethical dilemma that is Empower Network, yet recommends it without any second doubt based on what I’ve read from him.
And by the way, like Zeek Rewards, Empower Network also fell into ruin and it’s creators went on to make other programs, one of which is known as Legendary Marketer. I’m not saying Rob is promoting this, I’m just giving you the update on this.
4. Rob Fore & Social Monkee:
This is the most recent post I’ve seen on his blog. In his post Rob reviews a new program called “Social Monkee” which is a backlink type service which sends 100’s of backlinks and comments to your website/blog. The idea behind backlinks is that it’s supposed to artificially boost up your rank.
Such a marketing tactic worked about a year ago. I myself used a company called Bring The Fresh to send backlinks to my sites. However, with the latest changes in Google’s algorithm, such a tactic is NO longer a smart move.
In fact if search engines catch you using backlink packages, no matter how safe they claim to be, they will slap/blacklist your website. Backlinks are a thing of the past. Now it’s all about writing GREAT unique content that helps people. Rob’s recommendation of Social Monkee is another example of bad advice.
Update (10/26/13): Rob Fore & SEO Zen
Recently, Rob has blogged and recommended a program called SEO Zen which is a program which makes you automatic blog posts in less than a minute as well as a YouTube video attached to it and PR backlinks. What Rob doesn’t tell you (or possibly doesn’t know) is that many of these methods are going to get your website Google slapped.
Here is the full review on SEO Zen and why it’s not worth investing in. And I also have to add that the creator of that program known as Alex Becker is actually a legit dude who has a few programs besides that one.
While I do not like SEO Zen, his other program, Market Hero is a good and recommended one (I’m a member).
Putting it Altogether. I would NOT recommend listening to Rob’s advice:
Firstly, I consider most MLM companies to be pyramid schemes.
Secondly his advice on Zeek Rewards could not be more wrong.
Thirdly, his recommendation of Empower Network was the tipping point for me and straight up made me mad.
Finally I’ve seen enough when he started promoting Social Monkee. A service whose services will do you more harm than good.
As for SEO Zen, well you already know my opinion on this.
Rob has from what I’ve seen 1,000’s of followers. How many people listening to his advice and joined companies he recommended? I’d venture to say a lot. And how many of these people LOST money because they listening to him? A LOT. Yes it is also true that he does in some cases provide good information as well so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, but I still recommend massive caution if you’re considering trying something he recommends.
One thing I want to also add is that in pretty much every instance of him recommending something, he does make a commission through it. Some may call it a conflict of interest and they may be right, but if it’s a legitimate program and helps people, there’s nothing wrong with promoting things and making money off it.
A perfect example:
Take Rob Fore & Empower Network. If you look at his recommendation of this company on his website, he shows off a picture of himself earning over $92,000 and standing with the owners of the company.
That picture gives anyone who follows Rob the impression that they too can make so much money and hell how could they not? Read his blog on Empower Network and you’ll see nothing but praise and only benefits being mentioned about joining this company.
Yet if you examine the business model of Empower Network and what I said about how it operates, you’ll see that money was all made through people who invested up to $1,000’s from Rob’s recommendation and I can guarantee you most of them didn’t make squat from it. Yet Rob made money from all of those poor investors. By the way, I strongly recommend reading my Empower Network review to fully understand just how much of a scam it really is.
Empower Network offers it’s affiliates 100% commissions for every sale they make so to a guy like Rob, recommending this company to his 1000’s of followers a gold mine, yet completely unethical in my opinion. So in a way all that money he earned was from referring people into this dark hole that is Empower Network, while making money from all of their investments.
I think I’ve said enough. Again, there is no ill intention from my end and everything I write here is my opinion, but if you look at the track record I posted above, I think you’ll come to the same conclusion I did.
Alternatives…
If you’re looking to honest ways to earn a living through the internet, I suggest you start here. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows at first, but it is VERY profitable if you know the true way. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s an easy road because it isn’t. They are just lying to you to get you to fork over cash. Being someone whose been scammed tons of times, I can attest to this.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on this subject matter. If you’re a follower of Rob’s, feel he has given you good/bad advice, please share it below. Again, everything I post here is based on my personal opinion. I do believe Rob is trying to help people out. I just question some of that advice.
Update: Something Rob and I agree on…
While Rob and I have our differences in what we consider good ways and programs to make money online, and we are part of different programs, there is one where we are both members and both agree are good: Wealthy Affiliate.
Now I never joined that program because of his recommendation and I believe I was a member long before he was, but at least I can tell you that him being a member there (and likely promoting it too on his blog) is a choice I agree with since that program did legitimately make me a lot of money (I have proof, here you go).
Now I don’t communicate with Rob outside Wealthy Affiliate or in it, in fact, we just keep our distances with each other, but I’m hopeful he’s doing well and recommending good programs. I just happen to be a lot more picky than he is.
Enough with your WA crap…what is your business model? What do you sell/promote? How do you make money? The only reason people join WA is cause they’re stupid and poor. NOBODY started a business without at least a small investment.
How do you think Carson and his partner make $$$? $45 a month for “training”? How is that not a scam? People like you are so stupid, they can’t even start their own free blog.
You’re completely wrong about a lot of things John. One could make the argument that paying so much more for training from say EN would be stupid so the free WA thing and the $47 they charge (not $45) is well worth it. There are plenty of people who come out of there successful. Generalizing people who join WA as being stupid has no merit.
And my business model is affiliate marketing and promoting something I know helps people and does it for a fair price.
Sounds like you are trying to make money by making someone else look bad.
Not very professional in my mind.
Mark, I erased the site you posted in your comment, but you were linking to a review of Rob Fore and talking about how he’s your mentor, then linking to a bunch of reviews where you try to collect leads and get sales…
You may have had a positive experience with Rob but from what I’ve seen, he doesn’t have a good history of calling it right. I’m pointing to what I see.
I also want to add that I really want to travel the world and experience beautiful things in life that most people don’t because they are satisfied with living a mediocre lifestyle. I will not settle. Everyone and even some family members tell me to just get a job or go back to school and get a education so I can get a good job so I can make a nice living. I even tried Real Estate or even tried selling the worlds best vacuum cleaner Kirby! I know what I want. I’m not going to give up not even when I do accomplish my dreams. I want continue working hard doing what I love and help others do the same! I’m a very peaceful and loving person! I truly believe a lot of rich people now are only doing things for fame and publicity. I don’t even care for glamor. I really want to help people because I know what it’s like to struggle and wish you had what others take for granted. I know for a fact if I had a lot of money (more than I need) I will share all of it with my family and close friends and even people who I don’t know who truly deserve it! I want to help change lives and give people a chance. I know if this Rob guy really wanted to help people make a living he would have done so already.
Hi Destiny, this reply is in regards to both your comments. I know exactly how you feel and the feelings you’ve experienced working with the MLM companies you mentioned. I actually think Dubli and Vemma are a scam and have mixed views on Amway, but that’s not what I wanted to put attention on.
I think you hit a very important point when you said that the training wasn’t right and you felt as though they made their money off people investing in them and when you say you tried to recruit friends and family, I am sorry to say, but I wasn’t surprised this didn’t yield results because that’s usually the “stay away from at all costs!” from group. Nobody likes to be sold anything, especially friends and family.
With online marketing, there are many routes to go and while I personally don’t suggest MLM, I can tell you that there are much more cheaper routes where you not only do something you truly love, but you also get fulfillment out of it. That’s what I personally like to help people accomplish which is why I always have and probably always will recommend a resources like Wealthy Affiliate. I strongly recommend this program.
Finally as for Rob, I believe personally his goal is mostly to help himself over others. And the truth is that I don’t really have issues with this since just about everyone in this world is in it for themselves. That’s how it works, but I do have issues when flip-flops happen and it’s hard to trust people. I also don’t like it when people promote something because they get paid for it more vs how well it will help people. To me, it should be the opposite. I’m not saying Rob is like this, but there’s a lot of marketers who do this and it’s shameful.
Hello Vitaliy, very unique by the way. I came to this site wondering who Rob was and also because I’ve been searching for a honest way to make real money online. I’ve been scammed countless of times and even then I’ve been in Network Marketing for about a year now. I’m still very new and have a lot more to learn with it. Now I’ve spent maybe $2,000-$3,000 in total of investments in companies like Vemma, Amway, and the most recent Dubli! Now all three companies I just mentioned are not scams they truly are great companies for most people. But honestly it just wasn’t for me. I feel I didn’t get the right training and or felt they made money off of me just by my investments. I worked hard recruiting my close friends and families and still made nothing. I think my first pay check I ever got was from Vemma and it was a check for $20.00. Which I honestly laughed about because I thought this had to be a joke for all the hard work I put in and not even that I spent a lot of my own hard work cash to do this business that promised me six figures in six months. I just felt like I got the short end of the stick with these guys. Dubli never paid me for the vidoes I made so I just left them. I have been searching for a true way to make money online for a while. Now even more so because I have no job. I can get a job at a store or the mall but honestly I just don’t want to go back to settling. I know I want more out of life. Especially if we can control how our future will look like then why not me? Why not now? I really believe I can be a very wealthy woman and I know for a fact I don’t need to be super intelligent or have some type of awesome experience to make a honest income to set me and my family up for life. I know I can become extremely wealthy if I find the right person at the RIGHT time to help and coach me. I have high goals and big dreams. I will make them true I just need someone to show me how.
Rob Fore is a beast online and his advice works. The only way for a person to earn the greatest reward online is by taking massive action. Everything I learned has been taught by him. He is a great mentor!
Blessings!
I have seen Rob offer good advice at times and I am glad you’re seeing results Larry, but success in my view isn’t always measured by how much you make, but also by what you do to help people. When I see people recommend things I personally wouldn’t, even if they work, in my opinion it still doesn’t mean it’s good advice. I wouldn’t want to make money recommending MLM’s or pyramid schemes to people.
Maybe I have different standards than Rob, but that’s just the way I prefer it. Thank you for your comment.
Would appreciate your comment on the following companies:
1) Smart media Technologies
2) Polilex
Thanks.
Have a nice day
Not a problem Jack. Will look into both of them and have reviews up within a week 🙂
Update: Smart Media Technologies has been reviewed!
VITALIY,
Thank you for your excellent and very fair review of Rob Fore. I also know many people who follow his advice and are still not making any money. Before anyone takes the advice of Rob Fore, they must ask themselves one simple question, and it’s really important: **If Rob Fore is so knowledgable about making money online, why would he not spend his time making money online?** Why would he seek profit by telling others how to do so? Isn’t it easier to spend time making money selling your own products instead of telling others how to make money? Why would Coke reveal their secret formula? They wouldn’t. They would just sell their product and profit. And that’s exactly what they have always done. Why is Rob Fore profiting off of telling others how to profit. It is in my STRONGEST OPINION that the reason Rob Fore spends his days recommending and selling online money making products is because – THIS IS HOW HE MAKES HIS LIVING! It’s just my opinion but doesn’t it make sense? He seems to have figured out the “secret sauce” of online profit yet doesn’t spend all his time using these “proven techniques.” Makes me seriously question anyone who says he has the answers. Always remember: Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach!
Hey Ned, a lot of what you say makes a lot of sense and while I’m not Rob’s biggest fan, I do believe most of the money he makes is via affiliate marketing. I believe I might have seen a product or two that he personally created and is a vendor of, but I can’t speak for their success. All I can do is see his recommendations on programs I’ve personally reviewed and decide whether I can recommend taking advice from him, which I CANNOT do.
I see this type of marketing style happening often these days: You have people who promote products and give a favorable review of them whether did/didn’t try it, but for the sole purpose to sell it, not to necessarily help people. This is really my opinion, but I prefer to do things in the opposite direction:
If it can’t help the person, it doesn’t matter how much money I can make from promoting it, I simply cannot make that recommendation. It’s not about the money. It’s about the trust.
This is similar to emails I receive from marketers who constantly sell me programs. Eventually I stop listening to the person/s because there is no “substance” in their reviews. In my mind, they are doing it to make a buck of me and not help me out. And when that happens, I simply cannot trust the person’s advice.
Nice review. Allow me to clarify things.
First, my business model is to make money promoting “stuff” online. The “stuff” is usually tools, training and opportunities – all of which are subject to be good one day and not so good the next day. Or HOT one day and cold the next.
1) Never promoted ZEEK rewards… my review was negative and we never joined or promoted it.
2) Empower Network has stood the test of time and thousands have/are making money with the program
3) Social Monkee works well, still today, for promoting authority sites (think youtube video links)
4) The model of creating SILO structured blog is valid. Most people use tools like SEO Zen to mass produce crap. Others, like me and those I teach, use programs like that to do nothing more than map out the site structure… then we add unique content.
Many blessings…
Rob Fore
Thanks for posting my site Rob. While I do believe that you’re trying to make an honest buck online and there’s certainly stuff you recommend which does work, but with all due respect and no ill intention, I still question a lot of the things you say:
1) When Zeek Rewards was still up, I did see you promote the page and talk about the many benefits of joining the company. Then when it went under, I looked at your blog again and there was no mention about you making a mistake.
2) You and I are going to have to agree to disagree on Empower Network. I believe it to be a massive pyramid scheme and while there are people making money with this program, it’s less than 1% of everyone who joins it. I’m not saying this is 100% because of Empower Network. Sure it can be the people themselves, but the business model of this company is highly questionable in my view.
I could certainly have made a lot of money promoting it, but I can’t ethically do that because I don’t believe it’s fair to promote such a company that I see has SO many red flags.
3) As for Social Monkee, every backlink type service still works, but only initially and eventually the Google slap does come. I find it VERY risky to play this game and avoid these places at all costs.
4) I do remember you saying in your SEO Zen review that people should change the wording of the content produced by SEO Zen. Fair enough, but it’s really a waste of time since correcting the crap SEO Zen produces will take even more time than actually writing out brand new fresh and UNIQUE content.
While I completely understand your reasons for posting on this blog, I still list my personal opinion on the subject and I still feel many of the products you recommend are not going to help people make money online in the long run. Again this is my opinion and we can debate this, but like I said before, there is no ill intention.
Have a great day,
Vitaliy
I have used social monkee before, and I know that it’s a total ripoff. They lure you in with free links, but you can never get off that link train. Pretty soon they sell you various “upgrades” and “elite” packages and “lifetime” accounts, but the upgrades never stop. There is about 1 every couple of months, and it’s just MORE backlinks, all the time. These links don’t help your site at all.
Some people try to say you should use these links to backlink your backlinks, but that is ridiculous. Why would I spend time doing that?
Thank you for further verifying my point Nathaniel! I’m afraid I’m not surprised at the events that transpired. This is how these shady companies do it. The same formula repeats itself: Offer some sort of free incentive or promise big for a small fee, get people to join them bombard them with other offers.
In Social Monkee’s case, the backlinks the fact that you can’t take these backlinks off your site after they put them there will spell trouble for anyone’s site if Google catches them. Backlinks truly are a thing of the past! One more reason NOT to trust Rob Fore’s advice…
Wow! This guy is the definition of a sellout! I`ve also heard of these three programs and they are just plain bad news. Nice job putting the word out about this joker.
Yeah while he appears to be a nice guy when you read his blogs, I think his true intention is shown through these recommendations. I can’t even imagine how much money he’s made from selling his followers down the drain with these programs.