agree to meet them in a really out of the way location, then don't show up. keep repeating for as long as they keep calling

These calls are geared towards Expats. I do not know any Swiss citizens who receive these types of phone calls, as far as I know of. I have NEVER received such calls.

Sounds like this:

In short: just send them a letter asking for the information. You will have to add a copy of your passport to prove your identity.

Long version:
You have a right to request information on any data concerning you based on article 8 of the "Federal Act on Data Protection" http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/235_1/a8.html. They (generally) cannot charge you for providing this information, either.
You will have to state your request in writing and prove your identity (attach a copy of your passport) according to article 1 of the "Ordinance to the Federal Act on Data Protection" http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/235_11/a1.html. In order to comply, they need to provide the information within 30 days or explain why they are unable to do so.
Fun fact: If they don't comply, they're liable to a fine (http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/235_1/a34.html).

The website of the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner has some templates for such letters at http://www.edoeb.admin.ch/dokumentat...x.html?lang=de (not available in English, unfortunately). This template includes a request for information and the removal of all data concerning you: http://www.edoeb.admin.ch/dokumentat..._JjKbNoKSn6A--

Hope that helps

If they abuse my telephone number...

Looking for staff for Geneva:

I don't dare apply to that! I am sure the RAV would want me to take a job in Geneva....

Now is not the time to invest in the financial markets - the rule of law is breaking down, and if the MF Global (or more recent PFG) incident didn't scream "Don't even think about it!" loudly enough, then you are a fool. (And you know what they say about fools and their money, don't you?)

Ann Barnhardt ran a commodities brokerage. She closed down her business, because in her view, client funds are no longer safe. Her decision to wind up operations was a moral choice - not a financial one. I do not know of many people in the financial services industry who would choose to put their customers' interests ahead of their own, even when the price is high. However, I think her actions speak more loudly than any words I could utter or write.

Incidentally, I got a call from one firm called Milton Hayward, wanting to know if I was interested in investing in a portfolio. I found it noteworthy that the guy gave up with the sales spiel - and immediately hung up on me - when I said "I'm keeping my assets liquid for now - strictly M0 and no higher - and I'm waiting for the markets to crash before I invest in anything."

The risk of not being invested is also huge, market timing is a difficult game to play. If you only invest when the sun shines you will likely loose more, but will be comfortable when you make your investment.

Boiler room scam

What disturbs me with threads like this is that alleged British scammers are operating in Switzerland allegedly scamming British people.

Motto: never trust a Brit?

Dear Mods - I hope you enjoy my use of the legal word "allegedly"
My gut feeling is that the pyramid is starting to fall and the alleged scammers no longer have the financial resources to threaten Forums like this.

...but I hear allegedly you yourself run a similiar scheme and are just trying to bad mouth your competition. That also you profit quite nicely from referrals etc...allegedly of course.

?? No. I fix aircraft. You got the wrong person.

They also employ/employed other English-speaking nationals. South Africans, for example.

Well, that's allegations for you...

Correct. Investing ought to be a long term activity, such that market timing is irrelevant. For the record, long term after inflation returns clearly favour stocks at around 6 percent.* If you leave your money in the bank, you are actually losing money as inflation erodes the value of your savings. In terms of long term average historical returns, it is quite simple. Stocks, bonds then cash in that order. So you really ought to consider investing in stocks if you want to increase your return on the long run.

You can diminish the risk of poor timing by regularly investing, or dollar/pound/franc/ cost averaging as it is called. This is general advice if you dont know what you are doing. Otherwise, you can time better by avoiding clearly overvalued markets etc. But you dont really need to know this.

*Study by Dimson Marsh Staunton in Triumph of the Optimists:
101 Years of Global Investment Returns

: http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7239.html

I have the exact figures for the rates of return if anyone is that interested, break down stocks into large caps and small caps IIRC, based on 26 capital markets. I studied this shiat for many years and FYI I am not looking for your business.

I'm curious- to the OP whether you ended up cashing it out or continuing with the payments.

I got in the same mess myself; it took awhile for the alarm bells to finally go off, and when they did it was too late. I dealt directly with the insurance company (G*nerali) who of course reported that most of my money was gone in fees. After running the numbers from every possible angle it's clear that there is absolutely no reason to continue the payments. The best thing you can do is cancel the payments as soon as you can and get back whatever you can (it will be small)- which is what I ended up doing.

Also, the company who sold it to me was not the one mentioned earlier but a different one (which unfortunately didn't turn up anything negative on Google at that time), which has since changed names. They probably keep changing this stuff around all the time in order to try to look legitimate. So beware

Bottom line is nothing new but always worth repeating:
- hang up on / ignore financial cold callers
- READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS before you sign (anything in life)
- if you are in one of these things, you should seriously consider whether it makes sense to keep paying, and do it immediately before you lose another month's payment....

Well there are a few ways out of these Plans. If the plan is sold correctly it is a good plan, but compoanies like the beers add their won charges on to them which f**k you over.

For compliance reasons the RWL reason why letter, Risk profiler and financial factfind, should have all been signed by yourself, the advisor and the advisors boss if they werent you may be able to get out of the plans.

Not necessarily small. The following sets a precedent:
Seems reasonable to expect nothing less than 100% reimbursement from the product providers, since the fact that they choose to pay scammers to sell their products makes them complicit in a scam.

A quick update from my side:

I sent a registered letter to Generali over 4 weeks ago saying that I wanted them to 1) remove deVere from my account immediately, as I am no longer receiving any kind of service from them, 2) stop charging the premiums against my credit card, and 3) provide information how I can terminate this service, as it was misrepresented when it was sold to me.

They acknowledged receipt of my letter, but I have not received any further information so far.

I somehow suspect that this will be landing on my lawyer's desk soon ...