I recently discovered this website. I am sorry that it is too late for me, but maybe I can help someone else avoid this scam.
I breifly joined World Financial Group (WFG). I have always liked the idea of being in business for myself, and WFG offered that opportunity. So far so good, right? I was not recruited by anyone. I sought them out, and went in to talk to the office manager about what they could offer. What I heard sounded just like what I was looking for - a chance to be in business for myself, but not by myself.
I paid the initial $100 for the "background check" and was told to come to the "training meetings" which are held on Tuesdays and Saturdays.initially, everything seemed to be going well. The first training meeting was shallow, but I figured it was just the beginning. Well, in fact, the entire operation is much the same way; on the surface it appears to be on the up-and-up, but you soon find out it's otherwise.
Beyond the initial training which dealt with simple financial concepts, like the effects of compounding interest over a very long period of time, that was it. If a person has never seen the effects of compounding interest on paper, this might really impress them, and they might be led to believe that World Financial Group really offers something good. But it soon becomes disappointing.
I received no more real training during our meetings. Meetings were more of a pep-rally, or what they call the "mozone" or motivational zone. This was really an artificially enthusiastic environment created for the benefit of the potential recruits, or envitees.
The meetings or "mozones", while they called them training meetings, were there only to hook-in the invitees so they will join WFG. After I had attended a few such training meetings, I came to learn they were repeating the same script over and over at every meeting. That is why it is an artificial environment, where as a member you MUST be convincingly cheeerful despite the fact that you have seen it and heard repeatedly - like a nightmare Ground Hog's Day. Prior to writing this post, I read a few where they described it as a cult. I tend to agree with that characterization. It is a lot like a cult!
Recruiting is the key to the system!!! So bringing in new people to the mozone is the absolutely essential to making it work. You advance within the organization by recruiting. They instruct you to bring in family, frinds, co-workers, strangers you bumbed into at the grocery store, etc.
They mainly rely on those who care about you. It has to be that way, because they know it's highly unlikely that you will ever get someone who can go to a real financial advisor. So, they want you to get those who trust you. After all, most of the WFG "financial advisors" don't have a college degree, and I doubt there is a single one who has a Financial Advisor certification. Do you think that anyone other than those who care about you (as the new recruit) will turn over their financial life to these amatuers, except for the fact that they are trying to help you in your "new business"?
They have a very high turn over rate. Most people leave once they figure out they have been caught in a smoke-and-mirrors, over-hyped, empty-promises scheme. BUT, they don't care, because, as one insider told me, they still get your list of friends and family and by the time they leave they will have sold something to them.
I minizimed my losses. I left as soon as I figured it out. But they took me for a ride, and a few hundred dollars on background check, materials, training courses, etc. The bottom line is that they are phony "financial professionals" who exploit the trust of your friends and loved ones to sell them their financial intruments. From what I could see, the real money is in a life insurance policy/saving account hybrid. They push it aggresively and recommend it to EVERYONE.
If they approach you, hold on to your wallet and address book, and run for you life or dignity.
I hope this helps someone avoid what I could not.
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