(probably yes)
Yea, one of those wanted to connect on Linked-In.... do they really think we are that stupid?
There is one guy in our office who is proud of the size of his LinkedIn network. He says he has over 1600 connections and is adding people every day.
He probably wants to be an "influencer", just needs a couple of thousand more....
deVere Group gets a mention in a recent publication, "Millionaire Expat" , (enter company name in search box at left-hand side if page about deVere Group doesn't show automatically). The author asks "what type of person would sell such schemes?" and concludes that it's either 1. someone with an extremely low level of financial education who doesn't understand what they're selling or 2. a psychopath or Machiavellian who might understand the products but makes them sound amazing so that they can earn a high commission; they might know that the products can ruin people's futures but simply don't care.
I reckon that anyone who stays in the business for a significant amount of time would fall into the latter category.
United Capital Group
VBM Capital Partners
two more to stay away from:
These guys were a real pain in the backside, I'd usually just let them schedule a date a few months in the future and then keep cancelling and rescheduling it over email...eventually they stopped trying.
I blocked the numerous numbers they'd called me from, and told our reception to stop transferring their calls (I work for one of the Big4 and I'm sure they've got a steady list of expats they target one by one).
On a similar topic, does cold calling actually even work for regular people anymore? Can't remember the last time (if ever) that I paid attention or entertained whoever called and whatever was being offered.
See also - the health insurance cold callers!
Paying a 2000 calorie a day inexperienced human will have a low hit rate but much like those charity collecting in the street they sometimes hit big and the measly monthly wages for the cold call cannon fodder work out a low expense for the company. I'd imagine churn of such callers is super high. They're super pushy because they're super hungry and their bosses are sociopaths. "Second prize is a set of steak knives."
If your reception does still transfer them, perhaps you should ask reception who they said they were. They may blag their way past the reception.
You must have got lucky.
I get cold callers all the time in the office, offering me everything from website design to event catering. Also people asking for sponsorship money for sports events and such.
And I'm not even in a position to decide such things.
The phone switchboard have instructions to block people like that, but they are getting smarter all the time in finding excuses, claiming we had previous conversations but that they lost my number, things like that.
They can still get through you're right, as the reception just transfer directly to mobile without asking us first...they blag heavily as you say and claim they've had previous conversations etc.
I'm happy that the DeVere SA group seems to have disappeared though!
As if by magic and after expressing that I hardly get cold called anymore, I've seen 4 missed calls from the Guardian guys just now...
That was me trying to flog you a pub quiz.
Ah great...well in that case, let's pencil in 2pm on August 29th.
I like steak.
An excellent video explaining how "investing" through our friends produces a nice fat layer cake of fees that goes to feed... well, I'm sure you can guess.
Expat Pension Alert - Hidden Fees Costing Global Pensioners Millions!
Very good video. Youtube algorithm led straight on to an opportunity to invest 15 minutes in watching a film on the deVere Channel, all about Mr Nigel Green. I didn't have the stomach for more than a minute or so but it did seem to show nicely where some of the money might be going.
deVere Group launches cryptocurrencies app due to soaring global demand
The DeVere Group Steps Up Its Cryptocurrency Operations
Funnily enough...
BBC Panorama: Who Wants To Be A Bitcoin Millionaire?
(15 mins, 17 secs) "Today Leila is shattered. She has lost her life savings in what is essentially an old-fashioned pyramid scam using cryptocurrency hype. And she's not the only victim. The authorities say they need more help from legislators to bring this area under control.
Rob Wainwright, Director, Europol:
"We need the help of regulators, we need the help of legislators, particularly to crack down on these high-valued investment scams. And, you know, this trend of fool's gold effectively that is offered to people as they seek to cash in on the Bitcoin frenzy, and they're just scams, perfect scams. And because it's not regulated, there is no means by which the investor can make an informed decision about "Is it safe to invest my money in this?".
But what's this?
If the fees taken out were 18.5% yet her portfolio only under performed by 4%, the funds must have out performed the market by an amazing 14.5% which I don't believe.
Something is missing, their funds usually underperform hugely........
The graphic suggests down 4% rather than underperform 4%. I suspect a bad choice of phrase by the commentator.
If the fund has just gone down by 4% in the first year with charges of 18.5%, the performance of the underlying investments is way higher than I would expect from that cowboy network. I don't believe it only fell 4% if the charges were 18.5%, one or both of those 2 figures or possibly the timescale mentioned is incorrect.
Looks as if the cold calling is likely to increase rather than diminish.
DeVere opens in Rome, announces European expansion
"Plans are also being made to expand existing bases in France, Spain and Switzerland within the next few months, deVere has confirmed."