Warning to job seekers: Stay away from Primerica!

I have been unemployed for about 8 months. About 2 months ago I got a call from Primerica asking if I would be interested in "career opportunities." I assumed they got my number from monster.com They told me to come by next week for an interview. When I went they had a seminar on their company talking about all the good things the company does. After the seminar they gave me a job interview and basically hired me on the spot. I found that a little strange, I thought they would want to check my references. Well they told me that I would have to pay for my own background check. I found that a little strange, but I did it because I was desperate for a job. I gave them my debit card info. I went home and researched the company and found out that they are a pyramid scam. Basically you get money from bringing in more people into the company and who they hire in etc... Also I found out it wasn't an office job like the interview made it sound like it was. Basically they want me to go door to door selling life insurance. I decided that I didn't want to do that, so I called that night and told them to cancel my background check. They said they couldn't do it because they didn't have proper authorization. So I went to my bank and had the charge canceled.

I thought I was done with primerica, but today they took out 25 dollars. After being on the phone for an hour and being transfered 3 times, I finally got a human who said this was a charge for their online service. I was never told about this, I was only told about the background check charge. They were willing to refund it which I guess is ok, but they never should have took it out in the first place. I hope this is the last I hear from them though, because I am poor and was planning on using that 25 dollars to eat on today. Now I'm only left with $3.77 in the bank until they refund my money.


So basically primerica preys on poor people like me who can't get jobs. But what makes this bad is Primerica is part of Citibank which got billions in bailout money. Why are we paying billions in dollars to a company that supports a pyramid scam like this?

Indefinitely.

I am not on Monster.com but I assumed the unemployment office released my info. I researched their name and found similar complaints to yours. I didn't even return their call. It is nothing but a scam.

When they called they kept saying they were part of Citibank so I assumed they were legit. Now I know in the future to do tons of research, no matter how legit the job seems.

i've gotten a lot of calls from places like this as well. it's hard to find a job, and one wants to believe that these interviews might actually lead to something.

i hope you find a job that you really like very soon. hang in there.

As somebody that used to be a recruiter for an equally shady insurance company that I will not mention, do yourself a favor and call them back and say, "I'm not interested. Take me off your list." Otherwise, they will simply keep on calling over and over again. I had cases of calling people that had been in the database for three to four years and they had been contacted at least ten times.

They're the Amway of the financial world.

See this link http://www.consumeraffairs.com/employment/primerica.html

You never know how many more charges they might try to sneak in down the road.

:toast:

It will be a pain and there might be a fee, but Its definatly better than having more charges taken out.

and that it is fraudulent. They shouldn't charge you to re-issue a card.

When I had problems w/suspect charges due to an internet purchase last year, that's what my bank suggested and she said that it's a good idea to do this regularly if you're having a hard time getting rid of those little charges that you have no idea where they come from.

I've had to do it a few times. Once someone (a corporation) gets your number it's all downhill from there.

Good advice!

I called and the guy came to my office to talk to me. At the end of his spiel, I said, "This sounds like a pyramid scheme." He got all huffy and I said, "No thanks."

It is better to use credit cards because you can fight unauthorized charges easier. If the wrong person gets a hold of your debit card number, it is easy for them to empty your account.

I hope you get your money back. Good luck!

I would have advised you to steer clear of them.


You are right that these people prey on the unemployed. They bugged me the last time I was between jobs and they are doing it now. But I knew they were a scam from before. This guy called me over the Summer and I told him I was absolutely not interested. Now he is leaving messages again.

This is nothing but a pyramid scheme and it's too bad they are still in business and nothing has been done about the.

I hope that they aren't in with the banks or the state agencies that control Unemployment in your area. If word got back to the State UE office, that could end your unemployment benefits. Refusal of a job offer is enough for them to terminate your UE benefits.

Of course, (call me paranoid) that could be a part of their (the gov) plan. Get as many people off UE as possible, so that the numbers go down on what is reported and the economy looks better.

Somebody tried to recruit me into that joke around 1992 or 1993. Figured they would be long forgotten history by now. Shittibank bought them? Why would any supposedly "respectable" financial institution even bother?

report these mother fuckers. :mad:

Not sure if they're breaking current laws but their behavior should not be legal.

Out and out thieves that, unlike the other scam artists that ran this same game (A.L. Williams, etc.) are connected enough to have avoided hundreds of attempts to prosecute them.

I'm sorry you didn't know what scum they are.

Normally my BS radar trips whenever a "job" requires money up front, but desperate times can interfere with the signals. Fight 'em and get your money back.

I worked for one that was far worse than this for a few weeks.

They count on people being too ashamed or embarrassed to talk about it. Who knows how many people you saved from the same experience by sharing this.

People who prey on those most vulnerable are scum. I wouldn't do that even if they paid me.

Bankers Life & Casualty
American Income Life
Torchmark Corp.

When in doubt, check out www.complaintsboard.com

I had inquiries from Bankers Life & American Income, saying they got my resume from Careerbuilder. Since I had just updated my resume, I didn't think anything of it, until I read the e-mail and spoke with them on the phone. Bankers Life was especially persistent, even after I had sent a few e-mails saying I found out they were scammers.

The news about Primerica cracks me up. My boss at my last job had them do the admin for our 401k and I had told him from the start that there was something about them I didn't trust. I said they were too salesman-y, slick fast-talkers that gave me a bad feeling in my gut. It's nice to find out I was right!

And call your bank. It's illegal to take unauthorized funds from your account.

I guess there are some lessons I just have to learn the hard way.

Everyone tried to tell him it was a scam, but he didn't listen, and ended up working about ten hours a day for two weeks and got paid a whopping $30 for his time.

He learned the hard way, too.

I almost got sucked into both Amway and Primerica, but managed to avoid both. Considering this was just before the Web really took off, I'm surprised I knew anything at all about either one.

because of a woman who I worked with. She got me to go to one of their seminars. It's similar as far as I can tell to Amway - make money by getting people under you to work and sell stuff. I declined to get involved and she was infuriated. I really needed to have her help at work so I gave her some money to invest for me. I still have the securities account with Primerica - the last I checked it was worth about $100. Stay away from them.

Thanks for the heads up! That REALLY sucks! I would try filing a complaint with the AG in your state -- might not do any good but it's worth a try!

A legitimate job absorbs the cost of background checks and assorted paperwork as a cost of doing business. Likewise with training. Walk away from anyone that demands money in return for a job.

These people will keep deducting every chance they get and you will be on the phone all the time to try & make them stop..

and the taxpayer get to bail them out when the worthlessness is exposed..

I saw several people suggested I contact the attorney general. I will because I never authorized this recent $25 charge. And yes as everyone suggested I will go to my bank tommorrow and have them change my card.

I would answer very politely "HI, yes I am very Interested in a job!" Then I would say "I hear the job is about selling insurance?" Then, right after that, I would take two pieces of 2x4's and slam them together as hard as I could to make a very loud report. Then I would say "Shit! my kid just fucking answered the fucking door and fucking shot someone, I think the guy was trying to sell fucking insurance! I really fucking gotta go! Oh! I'll pass on the job, looks like selling insurance door to door is fucking deadly! Then I would place the phone down, not hang up and start yelling in the background for a little while, then hang the phone up.

That would be insanely fun to do, if I could keep from laughing hysterically in the middle of it!
I am actually right now looking for two pieces of wood large enough to bang together on the off chance that they call me in the future!

I actually did all of their training before I decided I'm that type of a saleman. A lot of their techniques were high pressure, and the people from the top wanted you to work your tail off. I prefer to sell things to people that they actually WANT and NEED. Also, I think most of the companies they were getting their services from like Smith Barney were either insider traders or went bottom-up during the meltdown.

Too shady for me, especially now that I understand economics better.

Kramerica industries? :shrug:

requested and/or required for some jobs, particularly in home health, child care, and so on. It is customary to expect you to pay for it and to be reimbursed after 90 days.

HOWEVER, it is always paid to a local, county, state type agency that runs your prints and retains the information. You would NEVER pay an employer directly for a background check, or you shouldn't because they can't do the check without your prints to assure you are who you say you are.

Also after paying the appropriate government agency, they keep the info on file for months to a year or so and if you should need to change or your hire doesn't go through and you find another opportunity, then the next reports are considerably less expensive.

Around here its $35 for the initial, then other tentative employers can request the report for $10 either you or they pay, but you don't pay them.

Now I'm taking about a criminal background check here, anything else would essentially be a credit report, unless there is some other background check I'm unaware of or perhaps this is unique to my state? Anyway this is my experience around here. I would never pay a tentative employer or an employer directly for a report, though I would pay for one if requested, criminal not credit. For credit report it would have to be post employment agreement, but I am an accountant, so though I hate it, a credit check does make some sense.

They are ripe with scammers and it is a crime what these people are doing. Good luck - I hope you find something soon!

He went on and on about how great it was. Sounded too good to be true.

About a year later he left them and now tells everyone how horrible it was.

I learned to recognize these outfits from constant job hunting. The whole decade of the 90's these schemes were everywhere as people were lured in by 'owning their own business'. It's mind boggling how many people have made millions off of those desparate for jobs or opportunities. But, hey - it's a free country and a fool and his money are easily parted.

If they do then it's a scam. And you certainly NEVER give your checking acount info to anyone on an interview.
End of story.

This sort of scam has been going on for as long as I have been first looking for jobs . I saw it in the 70's when I was a kid in my early 20s.

I'm only 23 and haven't had many jobs. I did find it strange, but I was thinking, gee I'd like to help my mom out with some of the bills. It sucks being unemployed.

when I refused to get involved with them a few years ago. They are high pressure and keep coming at you until you make it clear you're gonna get a lawyer.