Consumer Watchdog Warns Fijians About Auckland-Based Tiktokker's Money-Making Scheme

Thursday, 24 July 2025, 5:38 pm
Article: RNZ

Kaya Selby, RNZ Pacific journalist

Fiji's consumer watchdog is warning Fijians to stay away from a TikTok "business opportunity" run out of Auckland.

The Consumer Council of Fiji (CCF) issued a warning on 11 July about a series of viral TikToks that encourage viewers to pay upfront "joining fees" with promises of instant earnings.

The TikToker has amassed tens of thousands of views on videos promoting "LiveGood", a multi-level marketing (MLM) company based in Florida that sells nutrition supplements.

"An individual named Ricky Nair LG, reportedly based in New Zealand, is actively promoting this scheme in Fiji. It promises high returns through 'matrix spillover' and encourages people to pay a US$49.95 joining fee and a monthly US$9.95 subscription."

"It resembles a pyramid scheme, where earnings are based solely on recruiting others. It promises unrealistic weekly payments of up to $1000 for simply signing others up."

Council CEO Seema Shandil told RNZ Pacific that they want to prevent Fijians from falling for online scams before too much money is lost.

"We are trying to raise [awareness]...we have experienced it, and we know that eventually this is going to fall apart and people are going to lose heaps."

LiveGood's MLM structure involves sellers who improve their ranking by selling products, getting customers to pay for a US$9.95 a month membership, and by recruiting, or "sponsoring", more sellers.

The sellers earn a 2.5 percent commission on products sold, passing the rest of their revenue up to their sponsor, who would in turn pay a share up to theirs, and so on.

In his videos, Nair often refers to "matrix spillover" as a means of earning income through Livegood. The "matrix" refers to a hierarchical structure of sellers, with their sponsors above them.

Members may then recruit their own, or on their downline, that they did not personally recruit. Thus, the top seller is generating income without having to do anything.

"How many he has recruited, I don't know, but he's using all these techniques to lure the vulnerable," Shandil said.

While there are sellers based in New Zealand, it is unclear how popular LiveGood is among Kiwis.

Shandil said that the fact NZ-based sellers are appealing to Fijians is a major red flag.

"They are people sitting in New Zealand, and they are aggressively marketing it to the people of Fiji. So why do you think that doing that?"

Consumer watchdog 'hasn't got a clue' - TikTokker

When RNZ Pacific contacted Nair, he denied any wrongdoing.

"The Consumer Council [of Fiji] hasn't got a clue," he said.

Nair said that there are "heaps" of sellers in New Zealand, most using TikTok and Facebook to sell worldwide.

"I'm just sending the referrals. If they want, they join. If they don't want, they don't join."

He said that he receives a commission for every member that he refers, and that he has 47 members in his downline, with 21 from Fiji. He said he does not profit from their sales.

But Nair has publicly boasted his "Gold ranking", which, according to LiveGood rules means he has at least 100 people, and at most 499 people, below him on his "enroller tree".

Despite posting that new members could make "$1000 a week" if they sign up under him, Nair said they have to work for it by recruiting new members themselves.

"Everybody are doing their own way of marketing, right? I'm just posting that. But if people gonna contact me, then I gonna explain them how it gonna work (sic)."

According to Scam Detector, the TikTokker's storefront website has a score of 45.8/100, meaning it has a low-to-medium trust score, and is likely a scam.

"This website has a pretty low score, which means caution is advised," it states.

Proceed with caution - Commerce Commission

The New Zealand Commerce Commission says that it is aware of LiveGood's presence in New Zealand, and they are keeping a close watch.

The Commission's general manager of competition, fair trading and credit Vanessa Horne said it received two enquiries about the multi-level marketer (MLM) in 2023.

"While MLMs are not prohibited under the Fair Trading Act, businesses and individuals operating MLMs could still breach the Act if they make misleading or false claims about either the benefits of signing up to the MLM scheme and/or the goods or services the MLM sells."

Horne said that an essential element of a pyramid scheme is that the return depends on the continued recruitment of new members, not product sales. Another is that they offer financial return based on recruitment fees.

"Some promoters of pyramid schemes do try and make their schemes sound lawful. Consumers should be careful to ensure that a scheme is genuinely a multi-level marketing scheme, and not an illegal pyramid selling scheme before becoming involved with it."

"The Commission encourages anyone who believes a business has breached the Fair Trading Act or one of the other laws we enforce, to report it, using the 'report a concern' form on our website."

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