Having being persuaded to sign up for a 20-year life insurance policy by a company claiming to provide independent financial advice on offshore investments for expats, the article below reflects my own experience fairly accurately. It was only after receiving the policy documents that I realized that their content contradicted what I had been led to believe. The "independent financial advisor" had misrepresented crucial aspects of the investment and told me exactly what I needed to hear in order to sign up. He seemed straightforward and knowledgeable and had a ready answer to every question. He seemed the kind of person you'd want to do business with. Yet I was subsequently able to confirm, by asking a crucial question about his background which I had asked him when I first met him, that he had been lying to me: he told me two equally impressive and convincing-sounding stories, but in each case the facts were different.
Please be careful out there.
How expats are exploited by the offshore financial services industry
Other info that I wish I'd read beforehand (bearing in mind that the money was paid in an entirely regular manner to the insurer for a real investment and not to the advisor):
How you can spot a con artist
How to recognise a scam
Scambuster guide