I have gotten 3 calls in the last few weeks.  I don't even know where they got my mobile number!

I have been civil so far because I thought they were random, next time I am telling them off.  I HATE tele-marketing.

Costs me my minutes and my time.

I'm based in Lausanne and I also received a call from a company called deVere & Partners back in October by what seemed a "tele-sales" guy. He came through on my direct line and told me that he received my details via their database in Zurich but could not tell me from exactly how they got my number.
By all accounts they are a legitimate company and I checked them out on the internet etc... I agreed to have one of their consultants to come and visit me at my office.
I requested his business card, which he said he didn't have on him (strange for turning up at a meeting without any credentials). Anyway after listening to his sales pitch for 10 minutes on how to deal with my frozen pensions in the UK and other such financial areas he proceeded to take out some forms and proceeded to request my private details.
This is where I said STOP!!! I told him that I'm at absolutely no obligation to discuss my private details and with him and didn't feel that I wanted to go any further. He still persisted to ask me whether I felt that any of my "colleagues" who were also expats would be interested to benefit from financial advice from their organisation. This is where I decided to show him the door.
About a week later, I received a further call from another "financial coordinator" for deVere & Partners. I asked again how they received my name and number they said via one of their clients based in the UK. When I asked who they couldn't tell me. She then proceeded to ask whether I wanted to see one of their advisors to talk about pensions etc etc... I basically explained that I had already received a call from their company and I was not impressed that I was receiving yet a further call after I had told them I was not interested to deal with their organisation. She apologised and so far I've not received any further calls.
However, this is really annoying and I was almost suckered in...! Just be careful giving out personal details to people even if they seem like they work for legitimate organisations. Most of these people are on commission to get you signed up and once you're hooked in, it certainly isn't easy to get yourself unhooked.
Just beware folks...!

Hi, I too was contacted by DeVere and Partners about six weeks ago - when I asked how they found me, they said one of my colleagues said I might be interested, but couldn't tell me which one. I went to meet them at their offices in Geneva airport, and received a very slick presentation, and even discussed pension options with them (silly, silly me). It all seemed very plausible, but it somehow left a sour taste in my mouth and then I saw this posting! Pmanouche sent me some links which show things in a rather different light. Luckily I haven't signed anything, but I have to say that while the people I had contact with were very polite and all that, it was really agressive telemarketing (which I hate). Look out for this lot!

I've been working in various Euro countries for over 20 years so I've probably had about 400 calls from different so-called financial advisors over this time (and, in the early days, wasted a lot of time by agreeing to meet some of them). Depending on the kind of person you are, you can actually have a bit of fun by asking them some very basic questions (which they generally won't want or be able to answer), such as exactly what professional qualifications they have, how long they've been advising people on financial investments etc., and by insisting on knowing where they got your name. Alternatively, do what I do - tell them very firmly that you are absolutely NOT INTERESTED, thank them poplitely for calling, say goodbye (often, they will carry on talking while you do this, but just ignore them), and then hang up.