elle___

Hi Abby,

I clicked your Facebook profile link after you posted it as proof. I noticed you've been getting comments from Redditors on your newest status update, and just wanted to alert you about one comment specifically:

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"Came from Reddit too PLEASE please PLEASE look into Essential Oils from [particular brand]. I will PM you!"

I just wanted to give you a heads up (in case you didn't already know), this person is about to try to take advantage of you and get you to buy from him/the multi-level marketing company he works for. They target individuals who are sick and going through health issues (and well, pretty much anyone they can!) with claims these miracle oils can heal anything from cancer to colds. I was infuriated when I saw that a stranger from Reddit took the time to go on your Facebook and market to you. There's an entire sub devoted to how MLMs operate reddit.com/r/antimlm and it talks a lot about this essential oil company.

Best wishes on your recovery. I'm about to hop over and leave a little donation towards your service pup. I know how absolutely wonderful they can be!

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It's horrific! Now the oily man is trying to backtrack because someone relied to him- he's saying that he never mentioned any specific brand, yet his full original comment literally says *from a particular brand* and his FB intro says the exact oil brand he shills for. But yeah, he's just trying to "help" because they magically healed his sports injuries-- that's why he's PM'ing her. Not to buy from him, just to help, hah! Pathetic.

I hope this is answered- I've heard various opinions on it and am very interested. There have been some YouTube videos where people said they had very similar things happen and tested it out by talking about obscure things repeatedly in front of their phones like "I really need a good rate on a second mortgage" (when they don't even own a home), etc. Some have gotten results that seemed to back it up, others have not. I remember one of the tech companies saying they do not do access your microphone and use it for targeted advertising, but I've heard others say it could be totally possible if you allow apps access to your mic. (I'm probably phrasing this wrong since I don't know the right technical terms).

Could this be happening, or is it just a case of the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon?