XL Results Foundation review: Charity fraud! 19

'Wealth beyond Words' - Courier Mail, Australia
By Anthony Marx

February 23, 2007

WHEN a man claiming to be "Asia's leading wealth consultant" kicks off a national tour in Brisbane next week, he will leave behind a simmering controversy over his business practices in Singapore.

Roger Hamilton faces allegations of unfair conduct and misrepresentation from dozens of disgruntled clients of his XL Results Foundation.

It is understood that more than 100 Singaporeans who paid up to $US8000 ($A10,150) for life memberships over the past two years are in the process of receiving refunds – minus a $US500 fee – after promised business networking opportunities allegedly failed to materialise. Sources say about $US500,000 is set to be refunded by April.

Several legal battles are under way and complaints were filed late last year with Singapore's consumer protection and commercial affairs regulators. Disenchanted clients allege that there is no evidence Mr Hamilton has donated 10 per cent of all revenue to charity as promised.

The head of a women's business group, Ann Phua, has spearheaded a campaign complaining that "coaching is of poor quality, not certified, accredited or recognised with anyone" and networking "consists mainly of free Linkedin and an 'ecademy' (which) only has 8000 paid subscribers worldwide".

Former client Andrew Tan alleges that "the services provided are intangible and based on a networking pyramid scheme where referrals earn a commission on new sign-ups".

Mr Hamilton, a 38-year-old British national living in Bali, has attacked the allegations against him as "entirely baseless" and spawned by a single ex-employee.

He described the mass return of life membership money as "absolutely false" but did not elaborate.

His Queensland promoter, Paul Dunn of Gold Coast-based Results Net Australia, said 420 life members had paid up to $US8300 each since 2005 and only four have opted out.

Mr Hamilton is scheduled to appear on Tuesday night at the Mercure Hotel in Brisbane, where he will present his "wealth dynamics" seminar.

He is also slated to visit the Sunshine and Gold coasts next month, as well as Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

Promotional material for his talk stresses that it "takes you through the ancient wisdom of the i-ching through to the Masters of Flow (people like Da Vinci, Newton, Einstein) and shows you precisely how to create what Mr Hamilton calls "Wealth beyond Words".

XL reported a net profit of $207,612 last year, a fact which has cast doubt over Mr Hamilton's reported plans to donate $25 million to charity. His website promotes the idea of 25,000 companies generating $1 billion and then donating $100 million to charity by 2020.

Launched six years ago and formerly known as Competitive Edge, XL has an estimated 300 members in Singapore and about 1200 overseas.

Mr Hamilton visited the Gold Coast in July last year for a "wealth dynamics weekend" which reportedly attracted 250 participants.

The above posting by Roger Hamilton and XL Results Foundation is classic text book behavior of a scam.

Scams protest their innocence, are highly litigatious and are mired in controversy. They spread lies, bully critics, attempt to suppress negative media and complaints and go to extreme measures to mislead and confuse the community in a quest to keep the scam alive.

A pyramid scheme:
A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, usually without any product or service being delivered. It has been known to come under many guises. Some famous examples including the massive Albanian Pyramid Schemes of 1996[1] were technically not Pyramid schemes but Ponzi schemes.

Identifying features
The distinguishing feature of these schemes is the fact that the product being sold has little to no intrinsic value of its own or is sold at a price out of line with its fair market value. Examples include "products" such as brochures, cassette tapes or systems which merely explain to the purchaser how to enroll new members, or the purchasing of name and address lists of future prospects. The costs for these "products" can range up into the hundreds or thousands of dollars.

The result is that only a person enrolled in the scheme would buy it and the only way to make money is to recruit more and more people below that person also paying more than they should.
This extra amount paid for the product is then used to fund the pyramid scheme. In effect, the scheme ends up paying for new recruits through their overpriced purchases rather than an initial "signup" fee.

They create no wealth. All they do is move existing wealth.

The key identifiers of a pyramid scheme include the following:
• A highly excited sales pitch.
• A reassurance that it is not infact a pyramid scheme, possibly with a false account of what a pyramid scheme is.
• Little to no information offered about the company unless an investor purchases the products and becomes a participant.
• Vaguely phrased promises of limitless income potential.
• No product, or a product being sold at a price ridiculously in excess of its real market value. As with the company, the product is vaguely described.
• An income stream that chiefly depends on the commissions earned by enrolling new members or the purchase by members of products for their own use rather than sales to customers who are not participants in the scheme.
• A tendency for only the early investors/joiners to make any real income.
• Assurances that it is perfectly legal to participate.
The FTC also warns that the practice of getting commissions from recruiting new members is outlawed as "pyramiding."[9].

The Result of Pyramid Schemes The scale of harm is enormous, with millions of dollars stolen.

The weak and the vulnerable are set upon with trickery, loopholes in laws and psychological manipulation.

The disguises, rationalizations and defenses have a similar ring. Perpetrators claim they are uplifting people, setting them free, creating new opportunity, and teaching them a new and better way to live and prosper.

As in all such abuses of the past, huge amounts of money are spread to peddle influence, stave off regulation, and maintain the false portrayal of legitimacy. Critics are vilified and threatened with lawsuits as "anti-business" and "losers."

The element of the pyramid scheme that has the most in common with past abuses is its appeal to economic justification. Deceptive practices which take money from millions of unwitting people and enrich a small group of promoters and perpetrators are defended as "legitimate business," helping to build the economy, employ people, and provide economic opportunity.

Pyramid schemes – exposure
As an increasing amount of people are scammed the company will come to the attention of the media and the authorities.

As with all scams eventually the pyramid will collapse. At some point the schemes get too big, the promoter cannot raise enough money from new investors to pay earlier investors, and many people lose their money.

Pyramid schemes are illegal in almost all countries including: the United States,[2] the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Malaysia, Norway, Australia [3], New Zealand, [4], Nepal[5], Singapore, Sri Lanka [6] and Iran[7].

If you are a victim of XL Results Foundation contact the relevant authorities.

As an XL life member I believe this comment should be struck from the record. I have invested that money and have had it returned to me already in tenfold with the network I have, the opportunities I have and the knowledge I have gained through the many, many events that are held FREE for life members. IN FACT I think you should SERIOUSLY check your facts before posting a potentially damaging post as this all stems from his disgruntled ex-wife who used to be his business partner as well. She is doing the rounds doing as much as possible to stop this great network from carrying on. And if you believe that $61,500,000.00 that has been pledged to charities in the two years XL Results Foundation has been running is a bad thing then carry on writing inaccurate and damaging slurs and carry on missing out on the opportunities that lie far beynd your pessimistic mind. Thanks and have a great day.

Kind Regards

Tom Coppersmith
XL life member and reaping the benefits

I agree whole-heartedly with Tom on this. My wife and I are XL Life Members and have reaped an enormous amount of benefit from this. Part of the joining fee was to pay for a "Wealth Dynamics" weekend designed to better understand the eight profiles and how your profile can assist you on your path to wealth creation so that you can then give back to the charities of your choosing. Also included in the joining fee was an Entrepreneurial Business School in Bali that was excellent. This week I am attending a free monthly Power Up event in Auckland as well as attending a free "Life Shift" weekend in Palmerston. There are several free training weekends in New Zealand each year.
I am sure that we will continue to reap the benefits of being part of an organisation that has a vision, at the heart of its ethos, to have members contributing over US$100 million per annum to charities of their choice.
Show up, step up, give back.

Cheers

Dean Clisby

The above posting by XL Results Foundation is classic text book behavior of a scam.

Scams protest their innocence, are highly litigatious and are mired in controversy. They spread lies, bully critics, attempt to suppress negative media and complaints and go to extreme measures to mislead and confuse the community in a quest to keep the scam alive.

A pyramid scheme:
A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, usually without any product or service being delivered. It has been known to come under many guises. Some famous examples including the massive Albanian Pyramid Schemes of 1996[1] were technically not Pyramid schemes but Ponzi schemes.

Identifying features
The distinguishing feature of these schemes is the fact that the product being sold has little to no intrinsic value of its own or is sold at a price out of line with its fair market value. Examples include "products" such as brochures, cassette tapes or systems which merely explain to the purchaser how to enroll new members, or the purchasing of name and address lists of future prospects. The costs for these "products" can range up into the hundreds or thousands of dollars.

The result is that only a person enrolled in the scheme would buy it and the only way to make money is to recruit more and more people below that person also paying more than they should.
This extra amount paid for the product is then used to fund the pyramid scheme. In effect, the scheme ends up paying for new recruits through their overpriced purchases rather than an initial "signup" fee.

They create no wealth. All they do is move existing wealth.

The key identifiers of a pyramid scheme include the following:
・A highly excited sales pitch.
・A reassurance that it is not infact a pyramid scheme, possibly with a false account of what a pyramid scheme is.
・Little to no information offered about the company unless an investor purchases the products and becomes a participant.
・Vaguely phrased promises of limitless income potential.
・No product, or a product being sold at a price ridiculously in excess of its real market value. As with the company, the product is vaguely described.
・An income stream that chiefly depends on the commissions earned by enrolling new members or the purchase by members of products for their own use rather than sales to customers who are not participants in the scheme.
・A tendency for only the early investors/joiners to make any real income.
・Assurances that it is perfectly legal to participate.
The FTC also warns that the practice of getting commissions from recruiting new members is outlawed as "pyramiding."[9].

The Result of Pyramid Schemes The scale of harm is enormous, with millions of dollars stolen.

The weak and the vulnerable are set upon with trickery, loopholes in laws and psychological manipulation.

The disguises, rationalizations and defenses have a similar ring. Perpetrators claim they are uplifting people, setting them free, creating new opportunity, and teaching them a new and better way to live and prosper.

As in all such abuses of the past, huge amounts of money are spread to peddle influence, stave off regulation, and maintain the false portrayal of legitimacy. Critics are vilified and threatened with lawsuits as "anti-business" and "losers."

The element of the pyramid scheme that has the most in common with past abuses is its appeal to economic justification. Deceptive practices which take money from millions of unwitting people and enrich a small group of promoters and perpetrators are defended as "legitimate business," helping to build the economy, employ people, and provide economic opportunity.

Pyramid schemes ・exposure
As an increasing amount of people are scammed the company will come to the attention of the media and the authorities.

As with all scams eventually the pyramid will collapse. At some point the schemes get too big, the promoter cannot raise enough money from new investors to pay earlier investors, and many people lose their money.

Pyramid schemes are illegal in almost all countries including: the United States,[2] the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Malaysia, Norway, Australia [3], New Zealand, [4], Nepal[5], Singapore, Sri Lanka [6] and Iran[7].

If you have are the victim of a scam contact the relevant authorities.

In Singapore more than 100 Singaporean's both local and Expatriates demanded their money back claiming Roger Hamilton and XL Results Foundation was a charity scam and did not give money to charity as promised.

The XL accounts which were originally posted on the internet show charity donations of less than $20,000 USD. This link has since been removed after the media asked specific questions about the charity donation or lack of them and Mr Hamilton's baseless claims.

However, XL Results Foundation Pte Ltd has spent an estimated $250,000 on legal fees in Singapore and the United Kingdom against a former employee and life members. Duped new members are funding this activity.

Is this the behaviour of an honest company?

You can check these facts by reading the media articles published in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, sourcing public legal documents or contacting the community activist in Singapore, Ms Ann Phua who represented more than 100 members in Singapore who believed they were cheated and duped.

Ms Phua is a well respected business woman in Singapore even though Mr Hamilton claimed she was ficticious. Mr Hamilton also alleged journalists did not do due diligence however, court records confirm there is no defamation suit against anyone.

'Wealth beyond Words' - Courier Mail, Australia
By Anthony Marx

February 23, 2007

WHEN a man claiming to be "Asia's leading wealth consultant" kicks off a national tour in Brisbane next week, he will leave behind a simmering controversy over his business practices in Singapore.

Roger Hamilton faces allegations of unfair conduct and misrepresentation from dozens of disgruntled clients of his XL Results Foundation.

It is understood that more than 100 Singaporeans who paid up to $US8000 ($A10,150) for life memberships over the past two years are in the process of receiving refunds – minus a $US500 fee – after promised business networking opportunities allegedly failed to materialise. Sources say about $US500,000 is set to be refunded by April.

Several legal battles are under way and complaints were filed late last year with Singapore's consumer protection and commercial affairs regulators. Disenchanted clients allege that there is no evidence Mr Hamilton has donated 10 per cent of all revenue to charity as promised.

The head of a women's business group, Ann Phua, has spearheaded a campaign complaining that "coaching is of poor quality, not certified, accredited or recognised with anyone" and networking "consists mainly of free Linkedin and an 'ecademy' (which) only has 8000 paid subscribers worldwide".

Former client Andrew Tan alleges that "the services provided are intangible and based on a networking pyramid scheme where referrals earn a commission on new sign-ups".

Mr Hamilton, a 38-year-old British national living in Bali, has attacked the allegations against him as "entirely baseless" and spawned by a single ex-employee.

He described the mass return of life membership money as "absolutely false" but did not elaborate.

His Queensland promoter, Paul Dunn of Gold Coast-based Results Net Australia, said 420 life members had paid up to $US8300 each since 2005 and only four have opted out.

Mr Hamilton is scheduled to appear on Tuesday night at the Mercure Hotel in Brisbane, where he will present his "wealth dynamics" seminar.

He is also slated to visit the Sunshine and Gold coasts next month, as well as Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

Promotional material for his talk stresses that it "takes you through the ancient wisdom of the i-ching through to the Masters of Flow (people like Da Vinci, Newton, Einstein) and shows you precisely how to create what Mr Hamilton calls "Wealth beyond Words".

XL reported a net profit of $207,612 last year, a fact which has cast doubt over Mr Hamilton's reported plans to donate $25 million to charity. His website promotes the idea of 25,000 companies generating $1 billion and then donating $100 million to charity by 2020.

Launched six years ago and formerly known as Competitive Edge, XL has an estimated 300 members in Singapore and about 1200 overseas.

Mr Hamilton visited the Gold Coast in July last year for a "wealth dynamics weekend" which reportedly attracted 250 participants.

Nov 25, 2006 - The Straits Times, Singapore

Unhappy with business network club These members demand their money back
40 out of 69 vexed members gather outside club premises, By Tanya Fong

DISGRUNTLED MEMBERS: More than 40 life members of XL Results Foundation outside its Cecil Street office yesterday, including a 13-year-old Singapore boy (second from left in the foreground) representing his doctor father. -- MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN

THEY saw it as a no-risk investment - a way to expand their business contacts and perhaps make some money.

Instead, 40 individuals who bought life membership in an exclusive business networking club gathered outside the office of XL Results Foundation yesterday to demand their money back.
They are part of a group of 69 disgruntled members who claim they were duped by the company's director, millionaire consultant and author Roger Hamilton, who they said promised them the company would buy back their membership at the same price, or at market value.

Instead, members who had bought into the club in order to sell their membership for a profit claimed they were unable to do so. The company, they said, also did not come through on its promise to help them resell their membership.

Although prices increased from US$3,200 in 2003 to about US$8,000 (S$12,400) today, 36-year-old Mr Lai Kum Loon, managing director of a car parts company, said: 'When I wanted to transfer my membership, I was told I had to find my own buyer.'

What is more, members also said they did not get access to the large network of business connections the company promised them.

Among the crowd outside the XL Results office yesterday were five Britons, a Malaysian who came all the way from Malacca and a 13-year-old Singapore boy representing his doctor father, who was at work.

They all wanted to withdraw their membership from the four-year-old operation, which was known formerly Competitive Edge.

The total value of these memberships is about $460,000, more than twice XL Results' reported net profit of $207,612 for the [protected] financial year.

One Singaporean member, Miss Sarah Kong, complained: 'They simply did not provide the contacts of the other members, or those from other countries.'

The club currently has more than 300 life members in Singapore, and about 900 others in 15 other countries.

Membership includes access to the company's training and mentoring workshops in South-east Asia, subscription to its monthly XL Magazine, as well as use of its worldwide networking website.

The complaining members may be on sticky ground, however. Copies of the life membership contracts seen by The Straits Times do not state that the company will buy back life memberships or help find buyers.

Nor is there any clause that says life members have to find their own buyers.
Mr Hamilton, 38, a Briton who is a Singapore permanent resident, is currently in New Zealand on a business trip.

The millionaire, wealth consultant and author of local bestseller Wink And Grow Rich, told The Straits Times on the telephone: 'Today's visit was a press stunt by a group, many are not our members.

'We are looking into this matter. Any member who has concerns can come directly to us and we will look into their request for a transfer and facilitate it.'

This posting has been created by XL Results Foundation to warn you of anonymous bogus emails and blogs (about XL) posing as consumer associations, press bureaus and/or as our own Life Members.

Since March 2004 XL members and our partners have been hounded by interconnected bogus emails and blogs, alleging wrongdoing of ever increasing proportion. While the allegations continually change, the pattern of engagement has remained the same.

What these emails and blogs look like

1. The emails are aimed to mislead and confuse. They are targeted at the email addresses of our Life Members and partners - often aimed at new targets who are not aware of the history of these emails. Recent emails have addresses such as “consumer.association@googlemail.com”, “scamalertconsumer@gmail.com”, “xlcomplaints@gmail.com” and have titles such as “Consumer Association - XL Results Foundation Scam” and “Scam Alert - XL Results Foundation Pte Ltd”. At last count, over thirty different bogus Google and yahoo email addresses have been set up to send thousands of such emails over the last 2½ years.

2. The blogs are posted on blog sites such as wordpage, blogger and more recently on a US site called /link removed/ These blogs have equally alarmist titles such as “Roger Hamilton And XL Results Foundation Pte Ltd, Singapore Community Petition, Scam, Duped, Pyramid Scheme, Charity Scam, Mass Refunds, Deception, Misrepresentation, Cheating Singapore Nationwide” and “Roger Hamilton + XL Results Foundation Ponzi Scheme, Fraudster, Scam, Duped, Conman, Global Fraud, Misrepresentation”. Like the emails, they have numerous links to the same articles, blogs, etc and they are all posted using fictitious names such as “Hilton”, “Logan” and “Singapore Community”.

The contents of these emails, blogs, and our response

1. The emails follow the same themes in the allegations they make. They range from criminal misconduct to fraud to mistreated customers to financial shenanigans. Many of these are similar to the claims made by an ex-employee who left XL employment in March 2002. Some of these claims are now the subject of a legal case that XL presently has with this individual (this is the second such case that XL has with this individual). The history of this case, the claims and our specific responses to each one can be found here: You can view this at www.xlresultsfoundation-legal-file.com

2. On certain occasions, these emails and blogs have been targeted at the press and have resulted in press articles, which in turn are then mass spammed and blogged anonymously, misrepresenting the stories with headlines and editing designed to spread further alarm and distress. You can find our advisory to the media in relation to this pattern of behaviour here: www.resultsfoundation.com/mediaadvisory1 Members of the press are themselves concerned that their articles are being misused and are also keen to know who is distributing these.

3. While the many general claims are addressed in the two links above, we would also like to address some of the more recent claims here. The first is language conjuring up the image of mass discontent, action by consumer associations, government departments, legal actions and the like. These are all entirely false. XL has never been approached by any consumer association and has not been involved in any investigations by any government department in any country. The only legal case we are involved in at present is the one mentioned above. Apart from the two legal cases (one that is currently ongoing) with this ex-employee, the only other legal case that has ever existed was one between XL’s Chairman, Roger Hamilton and the same ex-employee when in January 2007 she personally filed a magistrate’s complaint for criminal defamation against Mr Hamilton. Significantly, she subsequently withdrew that complaint in April 2007 (after she appointed a lawyer to represent her in these matters against the company and Mr Hamilton, and presumably after receiving legal advice that her claim of criminal defamation was clearly unsustainable).

4. The second recent claim – of XL being an illegal ‘pyramid sales’ company – first appeared as a defense by the defendant’s new lawyer in this case in March 2007 (The argument being that the breach of contract claim against the defendant could be defended if XL could be shown to be operating illegally). XL was issued with interrogatories from the defendant demanding detailed accounts on the basis that it was operating illegally. XL applied to the courts for the interrogatories be withdrawn and the Singapore Court ruled in XL’s favour, ordering the interrogatories to be withdrawn in August 2007. Even so, the emails and blogs continue with these same spurious claims that XL is a ‘pyramid sales’ company and also that we are “blocking legal attempts for full disclosure of the company accounts”. You can read our affidavit on the matter, detailing our responses on exactly why XL has no similarities to pyramid sales and the court’s ruling here at www.xlresultsfoundation-legal-file.com

5. The third recent claim – that there is some kind of ‘scam’ and thousands of customers ‘duped’ are all part of the language used to incite alarm. We operate with full disclosure, a satisfaction guarantee on all our major events and XL membership is transferable. XL Results Foundation operates in over 50 cities around the world with members meeting monthly. As with all large companies, we respond to customer requests on a daily basis. We have service centres in Singapore, London and Los Angeles and anyone with legitimate requests, complaints and suggestions have the ability to connect with us freely and easily.

6. The fourth recent claim – a repeat of earlier claims that XL either does not contribute to charities or is not honouring its commitments to charity are, again, entirely false and absurd. XL’s mission is World Wide Wealth, and the many charity activities within XL, by XL companies and XL Life Members, are documented every month in our various updates, on the website and in XL Magazine and XL Radio. The progress of our XL SEA Program – our accreditation program for Social Enterprises and a full history of charity activity by XL Companies can be found here: http://www.resultsfoundation.com/index.php?id=66

What you can do

The legal case is due for court hearing sometime in early 2008. In the meantime, we request that you take all these anonymous or bogus emails and blogs with a big pinch of salt. We have also found that a reply to sender requesting that your name be removed from the spam list usually results in one or more personal retorts followed by an end to the spam.

We will continue to be transparent in all aspects of our company, which is dedicated to growing the power of social entrepreneurs to create and contribute throughout the world. For verification or inquiries on all aspects of our global commercial and charitable activities, please contact XL at: legal@resultsfoundation.com

For the lighter side of XL, visit our website at www.resultsfoundation.com and we look forward to seeing you at any one of the events we will run in the coming year.

Posted by XL Group Management

If you are a victim of the XL Results Foundation scam you are advised to contact the relevant authorities in your country or seek legal advice.

Suspect 'wealth creation' network in Brisbane
Georgina Robinson | May 30, 2007

Brisbane Times, Australia (Fairfax Media)

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/05/30/1180205312469.html#

A global business networking scheme that's under a legal and financial cloud in Singapore will target Brisbane investors in seminars tonight and tomorrow morning.

Results Net Australia is the Australian arm of XL Results Foundation, a business coaching club that purports to generate "wealth beyond words" for its members at the same time as working to eradicate poverty.

Consumers pay $US8600 to join as life members in return for access to online networks, mentoring and coaching seminars.

Members can on-sell their memberships after one year, but about 69 life members in Singapore last year were refunded their money, claiming they were duped by Foundation director, Roger Hamilton.

Forty of the disgruntled members defied Singaporean law, which bans public demonstrations, to march on the company's office and deliver their demands in writing.

They claimed they were led to believe their memberships would appreciate in value and generate a profit upon selling, and that the company would help them find buyers for the memberships.

However, they said when they wanted to sell they could not.

The members also alleged they did not get access to the extensive network of business contacts the scheme promised.

Paul Dunn, the head of the company's Australian arm, said there was nothing unusual about the refunds.

"I've been in business and speaking for 27 years and people trust me," he said.

"If, for whatever reason, we don't deliver value for money for the customer then they shouldn't pay for that."

The company, formerly known as Competitive Edge, currently has 640 members in Australia and about 1000 worldwide.

In the [protected] financial year it reported a $207,600 net profit.

Two complaints against the company have been lodged with the state government's Office of Fair Trading but investigations did not revealed any legal breaches.

It is understood the New South Wales Office of Fair Trading has received a complaint against the company.

In Brisbane this evening the company has invited people to listen for free to Mr Hamilton - a millionaire author and the company's founder - to give a "Wealth Dynamics" address at an inner-city hotel.

It will be followed by a breakfast seminar tomorrow morning where guests will be briefed on the company's "extraordinary vision towards 'binding' entrepreneurs together to eliminate poverty on our planet".

Queensland Fair Trading Minister Margaret Keech said people should be wary of "get rich quick" schemes.

"People are sometimes lured into these schemes by free breakfast, lunch or dinner conferences and promises of wealth," Ms Keech said.

"The sting comes at the end of the conference when people are asked to pay thousands of dollars to sign up for the 'advanced course'."

Ms Keech said wealth creation seminars were notoriously high-risk.

She warned people not to commit to sales on the day of seminars and to seek independent financial and legal advice.

http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/scamwatch/pyramid.html

Pyramid schemes are unfair trade practices because they are likely to be unfair to most participants in the scheme, the rewards for those at the top come from those below, and because eventually it will become impossible to recruit the number of people needed to produce reasonable financial rewards to participants.

Schemes also include those that involve participants using an agent, provided by the scheme operators, to recruit others on their behalf, instead of having to recruit new participants themselves.

Checking out a possible pyramid scheme

The following guide may help you check the nature and legitimacy of a multi-level marketing scheme.

Is there a joining fee?

Pyramid selling schemes often have start-up fees which are not for purchasing commercially viable goods or services since most earnings come from introducing others to the scheme.

Do participants earn commissions primarily from selling products or services, or are financial rewards largely dependent on recruiting others into the scheme?

Pyramid selling schemes are based on recruiting others into the scheme.

Does the promotional literature contain claims such as "this is not a get rich scheme" or "this scheme is legal"?

Again, statements like this need to be read with care. You need to ask yourself why such a statement is necessary. They may disguise the fact that the scheme may be illegal, or contain illegal components.

Does the information about the scheme suggest that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Commerce Commission or another government department or agency has endorsed or approved the scheme?

Neither the Ministry or the Commerce Commission endorse or approve any schemes. If this statement is made, it is untrue.

Pyramid selling schemes prohibited

Pyramid selling schemes are prohibited under the Fair Trading Act. The Act is enforced by the Commerce Commission. If you have been approached to join a scheme, which you suspect may be pyramid selling, we suggest you inform the Commerce Commission.

Individuals and corporations can be fined up to $200,000 for promoting, or operating a pyramid scheme. Offenders can also be required to pay an extra penalty based on the amount they have gained commercially from their involvement in the scheme.

Roger Hamilton's Wealth Dynamics event was canceled two days before the event was to be held in Dubai.

Thieves are not welcome.

Under the laws established to combat Pyramid Schemes it is illegal to reward participants for inducing other people to join the program. XL Life Membership Referal Program:

"Join the XL Results Foundation Ambassador Program that you can sign up for, Roger will share a referral fee equal to 5% of the LM fee, for each of your guests that sign up as new LMs".

RETRACTION OF ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ROGER HAMILTON AND XL RESULTS FOUNDATION

XL Results Foundation are pleased to announce a positive outcome to the recent legal case related to various allegations against Roger Hamilton and XL. These claims are similar to those found on interrelated and inter-referencing blogs posted on /link removed/ complaintsboard.com, hotscams.com and businessesfromhell.com along with other blogs and anonymous emails sent to our members and partners over the last three years.

On March 24th 2008, Linda Ruck, the defendant in the legal case that XL brought regarding many negative and untrue claims against the company, signed a full written confirmation, retraction & undertaking by a consent court order in the Singapore Subordinate Courts.

The undertaking includes:

1. A confirmation that she has been involved in approaching via email, and/or otherwise including postings on internet forums, blogs, websites and other means, various parties including the media, consumer groups, our members and partners.

1. An unreserved retraction of her allegations against Roger Hamilton, XL, and XL stakeholders and an unconditional acceptance that these are untrue and/or inaccurate. The retracted allegations range from claims of illegal activities, no money going to charity, misappropriation of funds, criminal investigations, fraudulent conduct and a withdrawal of her claim on pyramid sales – which are similar to all the claims found on the various emails and blogs.

1. An undertaking not to conduct or continue with any ongoing campaign against Roger and XL (through herself, anonymously or otherwise) and not to spam, blog or communicate with XL Members, XL stakeholders or the media to make negative comments about XL.

1. An undertaking to cease harassing XL, its members, partners and associated parties.

XL is glad to put the legal conclusion of this chapter behind itself and to have received vindication against all the claims that have been made through the Singapore Court System. A copy of the Consent Order of Court and full Confirmation, Retraction & Undertaking can be viewed at http://xlresultsfoundationlegalfile.wordpress.com/

XL Board of Directors
For the latest on the growth of World Wide Wealth, visit
www.resultsfoundation.com

The posting by XL Results Foundation is classic text book behavior of a scam.

Scams protest their innocence, litigatious and mired in controversy. They spread lies, bully critics, attempt to suppress negative media and complaints and will go to extreme measures to mislead and confuse the community to keep the scam alive.

A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling people into the scheme.

The distinguishing feature of these schemes is the fact that the product being sold has little to no intrinsic value of its own or is sold at a price out of line with its fair market value. The costs for these "products" can range up into the hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Pyramid schemes create no wealth they only move existing wealth.

The key identifiers of a pyramid scheme include:

• A highly excited pressured sales pitch.
• A reassurance that it is not in fact a pyramid scheme, possibly with a false account of what a pyramid scheme is.
• Little to no information offered about the company unless an investor purchases the products and becomes a participant.
• No product, or a product being sold at a price ridiculously in excess of its real market value. As with the company, the product is vaguely described.
• An income stream that chiefly depends on the commissions earned by enrolling new members or the purchase by members of products for their own use rather than sales to customers who are not participants in the scheme.
• A tendency for only the early investors/joiners to make any real income.
• Assurances that it is perfectly legal to participate.

The FTC also warns that the practice of getting commissions from recruiting new members is outlawed as "pyramiding."[9].

The scale of harm is enormous, with millions of dollars stolen. Perpetrators use trickery, loopholes in laws and psychological manipulation.

The disguises, rationalizations and defenses have a similar ring. Perpetrators claim they are uplifting people, creating new opportunity, and teaching a new and better way to live and prosper.

As in all such abuses of the past, huge amounts of money are spread to peddle influence, stave off regulation, and maintain the false portrayal of legitimacy. Critics are vilified and threatened with lawsuits as "anti-business" and "losers."

The element of the pyramid scheme that has the most in common with past abuses is its appeal to economic justification. Deceptive practices which take money from millions of unwitting people and enrich a small group of promoters and perpetrators are defended as "legitimate business, " helping to build the economy, employ people, and provide economic opportunity.

As an increasing amount of people are scammed the company will come to the attention of the media and authorities.

The promoter cannot raise money fast enough to keep the scam alive and the scam will collapse. Pyramid schemes are illegal.

Victims of scams are advised to contact the Department of Fair Trade.

Beware of Roger Hamilton and XL Results Foundation

Shonky Operator

http://blog.datamanagementsolutions.biz/dms.html

I recently received an invitation to a presentation in Wellington by Roger Hamilton from XL Results Foundation.

The topics of the meeting included personal profiling, wealth creation, and business success. I figure I always have something to learn.

He does this all around the world.

I attended the evening event, and also the follow-up breakfast meeting the following morning. What I witnessed was quite disturbing - to the extent that I am moved to comment on it, as well as to alert the organisation that promoted it to me.

Roger Hamilton is an interesting and entertaining presenter. Give credit where credit is due. He is a clever guy, he shared some good ideas, and I learnt something for sure.

However, his core purpose is not to inform. The whole thing is a sales process.

Well, in business there's sales and there's sales. I am not qualified to comment on legalities, but I am surprised that what he is doing does not cross over the boundary into being classified in New Zealand as an illegal pyramid scheme.

Either way, he certainly crosses the boundary of ethics and honesty, very skillfully using psychological techniques to deceive and manipulate.

As a result, I saw a large number of people part with a large amount of money, for a product which is not worth a small fraction of what they paid, in response to vague and misleading information and straight out lies.

Sure, they signed their names voluntarily, and people have a right to make their own impulsive decisions, and to pay money without doing due diligence if they so choose. So that's all accepted.

But it's still a nasty scam.

In researching about it afterwards, I found a number of web sites and blogs where others have similar concerns. On one of those, the author asks "How you feel when you hear about people being swindled in the same way - do you let it happen, ignore or speak out?" I think I will speak out at any opportunity.

Having said that, I need to try and be succinct. So, what was for sale? Life Membership of Mr Hamilton's little club. What is the price? $NZ14, 500 per person if paid on the spot, or $NZ17, 500 if paid in instalments over 12 months. Is there an opportunity to review any hard information before making a commitment? No.

Here's a brief overview of the sales process:

The man with the gift of the gab gets everyone real hyped up.
Those who "resonate" with the hype have to fill in the application form.
After that you get told the price.
After that, you compete to be one of the 5 who will be accepted (except that after the first 5, they keep accepting people anyway - there were 10 who took the plunge when I was there).
After that, you have to give your credit card details, and sign the form which states no refunds.
After that, you get some specific details about what you get for the money.
Well, that last point is a tad unfair, I admit. During the course of the talk, you do get some snippets of information, in very emotive and general terms, about Life Membership. But certainly not enough to base a rational decision on.

Pretty much what it comes down to is:

Subscription to a monthly magazine - lots of advertising and the occasional interesting article.
Potential benefits of social networking with other members. Sort of like a private LinkedIn.
The opportunity to contribute to charities, in some undefined way.
An income opportunity by getting a 10% cut of the membership fee of people you refer (this was not mentioned at the meeting, I found out about it later).
Attendance at a whiz-bang function.
Access to life/business coaching.
$14, 500? C'mon!

On the face of it, the coaching aspect sounds like the most meaty of the offerings. But then, if I'm going to get coaching, I need to find a coach I can "click" with.

I have no idea, of course, about any of the coaches within that organisation. There was one of them at the meeting I attended, and I sure wouldn't have "clicked" with him.

But you would have to assume that the coaches are all people who at some stage have been through the same process I observed. That means they are not representative. It means they are people who are able to be swayed by excitement. It means they are people who have demonstrated their willingness to invest large amounts of cash without proper consideration. It means they do not have a well-developed ability to detect unethical behaviour. It means they are not for me.

So that's the value for money aspect. But in the end, it is primarily the snake-oil tactics that I am upset about.

Something just really got to me about this. Because I saw it first-hand, I suppose. It was certainly amazing to see the vulnerability of some folks, and to reinforce my belief in the concept of consumer protection.

Which is simply my point... Watch out!

Business Networking Scam hits Shanghai - XL Results Foundation

May 20, 2008 – 7:52 pm

http://mingtiandi.com/?p=58

This strays a bit from our usual Mingtiandi vein, but I just received a scam appeal to entrepreneurs that I thought might be worth warning folks about. I received two emails inviting me to an “Exclusive business breakfast meeting by invitation only!” from something cheesily called the “XL Results Foundation.”

It seems this foundation is a bogus business networking scheme that bilks would-be entrepreneurs for membership money while providing them with non-existent training and networking opportunities. And I thought those dodgy financial consultants were bad! You can find out how the scam works from this posting on /link removed/ and this Australian report from Perth.

In the mail, the XL Foundation describes itself as, “the world’s leading entrepreneur and social enterprise network.” But offers no grounds for this assertion. These tricksters from Singapore further assert that their ringleader will, “explain how Businessmen and Entrepreneurs can take advantage of emerging Business Opportunities in Asia-Pacific Region.” Evidently the secret to taking advantage of opportunities is tO cOmpletely Ignore all standards reGarding Capitalisation. and the grammar.

It seems this pyramid scam has already made the rounds in Singapore, Indonesia and Australia and is now hoping to take advantage of the overly optimistic crowding the streets of Shanghai.

If you get this same email as I did, just toss it in the bin and save your business cards for the next Chamber of Commerce meeting.

Consumer Update - Roger Hamilton & XL Results Foundation collapse

The XL Results Foundation Head Office in Singapore has closed down.
Address: 30 Robinson Road, #02-01, Robinson Towers, SINGAPORE 048546.

Victims of Ponzi Scheme operator Roger Hamilton and the XL Results Foundation scam are advised to contact the Consumer Affairs Department and/or Department of Fair Trade in their respective country.

XL Results Foundation Pte Ltd is owned by a holding company incorporated to a PO Box address in the Republic of Seychelles.

Company Secretary, MARGARET LOH CHUI MEI, 10 Anson Road, #21-07, International Plaza, SINGAPORE 079903.

Warnings against the Ponzi Scheme and cult, XL Results Foundation have been issued by bloggers, consumer associations in the UK, America and Australia and newspaper articles in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

More:
XL Results Foundation — Pyramid Scheme, Fraud, Scam

http://blog.datamanagementsolutions.biz/2008/06/shonky-operator.html
http://www.bizop.ca/blog2/complaints-and-investigations/xl-results-foundation/
http://mingtiandi.com/?p=58
http://www.brilliant4biz.com/category/xl-results-foundation/
http://xlresultsfoundationscam.blogspot.com
http://www.businessesfromhell.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=401
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4287069a6442.html
http://www.pyramidschemealert.org
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2007/05/30/1180205312469.html

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