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 www.ripoffreport.com. 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.
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