Legit forex trading companies
-traditional and instant exchanges available below is an up to date list of the brokers which we strongly advise traders to choose to avoid.
New forex bonuses
There are plenty of other brokers out there who are trustworthy – and with these traders below exhibiting behaviours like copying websites of others, receiving warnings from regulators and more, it’s well worth avoiding them as you choose your own preferred provider.
Forex brokers to avoid
If you trade forex, you need to make sure that your brokers are legitimate and above board – and that you can trust them to help you out. While most forex brokers are decent and honest, not all are. It pays to be able to defend yourself against less scrupulous brokers. Avoiding broker fraud ought to be a priority for people who trade foreign exchange pairs, then – and that’s where we can help. Below is a list of brokers who we have deemed to not be trustworthy for a variety of reasons. And if you are concerned about a particular broker, contact us with details to alert us with the potential broker fraud going on. From there, we can go ahead and research and review the broker in question and help prevent other users from falling victim to any dodgy practices. And we’ll use this information to keep the list as updated as possible – so check back here for all the latest updates when you can.
Table of contents
Investigated brokers
The sad reality of the foreign exchange trading world is that there are people who are out to make a fraudulent buck from innocent traders trying to build their portfolios. Whether it’s insider trading or some other manipulation of the international markets, trading fraud can take many guises – and it can even have links to the wider stock markets as well. As a result, it’s wise to keep yourself fully informed about what the brokers you are considering are up to – and make decisions to avoid those who don’t offer the level of safety and security you require.
Below is an up to date list of the brokers which we strongly advise traders to choose to avoid. There are plenty of other brokers out there who are trustworthy – and with these traders below exhibiting behaviours like copying websites of others, receiving warnings from regulators and more, it’s well worth avoiding them as you choose your own preferred provider.
Various global institutions have criticised the range of brokers included on this list. Whether it’s the australian securities and investments commission or the regulators of nations such as cyprus, there are organisations on here which have faced the wrath of some of the world’s leading oversight bodies. But, we’ve gone even further and responded to intelligence from our users in order to bring you an up to date list of brokers which, in our opinion, ought to be avoided. (see the full list at the bottom of this page).
Latest added forex brokers to avoid
- OT capital. They have gotten a warning from ASIC.
- EU capital. They ask you to deposit over and over again. They even try to get you to log in to your bank account over a shared screen.
- Multiplymarket is a clone of trading technologies.
- Bluetrading has an FCA warning for claiming to be FCA regulated when they, in fact, are not.
- Facebook group investment/profits, FBO trading signals & bitcoin investments – they don’t allow withdrawals and block you as soon as you ask for a withdrawal.
- ECN capital. They claim to be cysec regulated but are not.
- GBCFX – unregulated broker having issues handling withdrawals.
- Forex365options – they make you pay fees that aren’t even in any terms and conditions. Website hardly works either.
- Toptrades.Co – not regulated so should be avoided.
- Fx-premium. They are copying the website of JFD brokers so should be avoided!
Most trusted forex brokers
But despite the fact that there are clearly some untrustworthy web brokers out there in the forex world, it’s also the case that some brokers are more worthy of your trust. Many legitimate forex brokers have taken steps to gain the trust of their users, whether that’s by implementing rules against money laundering or simply by segregating client funds away from the operational funds of the broker’s business.
It’s not always possible to identify the legitimate foreign exchange brokers from first glance – but that’s where we can help. The list below is based on reviews which assess everything from the apps offered by particular forex brokers to the reputations they have among users for fairness.
To see a full list of our trusted foreign exchange brokers, why not check out this table?
5
4.9
4.9
4.9
4.8
Most trusted crypto brokers
And the same goes for cryptocurrency trading, too. To some, the decentralised and entirely electronic world crypto trading is seen as something of a “wild west” – with many fraudulent bitcoin brokers exploiting innocent victims in the name of financial gain. But the reality is that there are plenty of ways to trade bitcoin on a legitimate basis without running the risk of being scammed. This section will offer some tips on some key bitcoin brokers who are, in our opinion, above board and worthy of consideration if you’re looking for a scam-free bitcoin or other crypto trading experience. See our list of trusted crypto brokers below.
-easy to use for all types of users
-traditional and instant exchanges available
-secure and simple buying process
– social trading platform
– FCA & cysec regulated
– minimum deposit $200
– demo account
– copy trading
– 2000+ instruments
Regulating trade authorities
When it comes to determining whether or not a foreign exchange or cryptocurrency broker is trustworthy, the role of the authorities is worth considering. We share the determination of regulators across the globe when it comes to weeding out fraudulent brokers. That’s why we’re happy to recommend the websites of the NFA (national futures association) and also the CFTC (commodity futures trading commission) if you’re interested in learning more about potential scams in this sector.
Forex scams
Top 7 forex scams to avoid today
As forex markets promise to give you an incredible return on investment, they became trendy in the last few years. However, often forex traders don’t have a great understanding of how forex markets work and what a forex broker does exactly, which leaves the latter a lot of room to scam the trader. Whether it is about proposals on instagram or simply fake investment advice, beware.
It’s a complicated industry, and even experienced people fall victim to intricate trading schemes. There are quite a few variations of the forex fraud. Let’s take a look at a few of them. Feel free to add names of questionable forex platforms in the comments section, at the bottom of the article.
Forex trading strategies – scam 1: the whole package
According to the specialists at investorguide.Com, this might come your way by crooks “creating false customer accounts for the purpose of generating commissions, selling software that is supposed to garner large profits for the customer, false claims of customers making huge money, the theft of a customer’s account and phony marketing.
Forex scams draw customers in with sophisticated advertisements placed in the newspaper, heard on the radio, or seen on internet websites.
Recommended read: sell annuity payments scam
Forex promoters often lure investors into scams with various assurances, including their ability to predict an increase in currency prices and claims of high returns with low risk. An unregulated financial company trading off-exchange forex, foreign currency futures and options contracts with retail customers is illicit and may be a fraud or scam.
In many cases, investors may be guaranteed high returns in the tens of thousands of dollars over a few weeks or months, with a relatively low initial investment. In reality, the investor’s money is never used for forex trading, but is simply stolen.”
Watch the video below see a few extra tips from a victim, talking about forex scams, training courses, and hedge funds.
Forex trading strategies – scam 2: computer manipulation of bid/ask spreads
How does this scam work? According to dailyforex.Com (a great team of analysts and researchers who watch the market throughout the day to provide unique perspectives and helpful analysis on forex trading), “the point spread between the bid and ask basically reflects the commission of a back and forth transaction processed through a broker. The point spreads differ widely among brokers and differ between currency pairs.
Since brokers don’t usually offer the normal two- to three-point spread in the EUR/USD, for example, but go for spreads of seven pips or more, any potential gains resulting from a good investment were eaten away by commissions. These commissions found themselves in the broker’s pocket.
Suggested read: sell my structured settlement fraud
Today, it is unusual to find a broker that claims he takes a commission. Don’t be fooled by this promotion. He is still making his money from the difference in the spread but spreads are now regulated and only smaller spreads are permitted.
However, there are still offshore retail forex brokers who are not regulated by the CFTC, NFA or their nation of origin and it’s quite easy for these firms to pack up and disappear with the money when confronted with investigations of irregularities”. Great explanation by dailyforex.Com.
Suggested read: 13 gold IRA investment scams
Forex strategies – scam 3: commingling funds
In law, commingling is a breach of trust in which a fiduciary mixes funds that he holds in the care of a client with his own funds, making it difficult to determine which funds belong to the fiduciary and which belong to the client.
When it comes to the forex scam, the same team at dailyforex.Com explains: “commingling funds gives forex brokers the opportunity to pocket much of an investor’s money without the client ever noticing any discrepancy. The broker benefits financially during the trading and eventually disappears with a customer’s money.”
“if a forex trader looks carefully and states vigilant he/she can pick up are certain warning signs which can alert him/her when all is not on the straight and narrow. If a broker won’t allow the withdrawal of monies from investor accounts or if problems exist within the trading station, the trader should take immediate notice.
Additionally, guarantees of high performance levels-some much higher than those offered by other forex brokers-should be viewed with considerable skepticism.”
Suggested read: 15 types of securities fraud
Forex strategies – scam 4: robots/automated systems
Surprised? Don’t be. This is an increasing scam especially with the advancement of the technology. Questionable brokers sell automatic trading systems which claim to generate automatic trades even when the trader is sleeping.
Some shady companies sell their special “packages” for thousands of dollars, only to find out that some of these you can find on the internet for free.
“most of these robots have not been tested by an independent source for formal review. Their trading system’s parameters and optimization codes are usually invalid and at the end of the day, the system generates totally random buy and sell signals”, concludes dailyforex.Com.
Suggested read: list with government grants for individuals
Forex strategies – scam 5: fake investments funds
All kinds of HYIP funds have been notoriously showing up everywhere. Simply because they work; for the scammers! The high yield investment program funds ‘guarantee’ you a great level of return for temporary use of your money in their forex fund.
The concept that sells this ponzi scheme is that the investors of yesterday get paid back by the investors of tomorrow. How the scam works is that once the fund runs out of prospects, it closes down and takes whatever money it has with it.
Must read: online college course scam
Forex strategies – scam 6: signal seller membership
Just like the robots, certain ‘signal sellers’ claim to sell you information on which trades you should make in order to get rich. The trick is – they charge a weekly or monthly fee for their service (‘signals’).
Little do you know that not only you are lose your money, but they do not even offer you anything that will help improve your trading!
Forex on instagram – scam 7: fake accounts
With the advancement of technology, there are many well-run online scams on social media when it comes to forex. Some have over a thousand ‘followers’ losing money as the fraud is advertised as a get rich quick scheme.
People are signed up to a trading platform through so-called ‘companies’ and are asked to deposit their hard-earned money to deposit $400 (or EURO). Ultimately, they lose it all through investment advice from kids who earn a kickback when clients give money to the platform used to sign up.
These questionable forex platforms have recruited and paid multiple young adults from ages 18-21 to promote their scheme online. They get paid for luring new people into the system. They also use well known social media influencers to promote them and tell lies about the service.
How to avoid the forex scams:
There are many red flags you should be aware of. The first one would be when you are guaranteed a profit. There are no guarantee profits in forex. Use your computer and search reviews featuring the broker, or the system, or the signal seller.
Make sure the testimonials are genuine and do not come from their own websites. Check all the forex forums and google the name of the broker followed by the word ‘scam’.
Check their website very carefully. If they don’t have a legitimate contact page with phone numbers and emails, that’s another red flag.
Last but not least, keep in mind that there is no ‘miracle’ software that will figure out the forex market for you. If anybody would own that, why would they sell it?
How to report the forex strategies scams:
Make your family and friends aware of this scam by sharing it on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the scammers to the federal trade commission using the link below:
How to protect yourself more:
If you want to be the first to find out the most notorious scams every week, feel free to subscribe to the scam detector newsletter here. You’ll receive periodical emails and we promise not to spam. Last but not least, use the comments section below to expose other scammers.
Related articles:
Verify a website below
Are you just about to make a purchase online? See if the website is legit with our validator:
How to avoid forex trading scams in 2021
Forex markets trade trillions of dollars a day. Traders around the globe are always looking for the best broker to trade forex, cfds, binary options, stocks, cryptocurrencies, etc. With new forex brokers popping up constantly, determining the legitimacy of a broker can be a real challenge. As a consumer, it is vital to research a company before depositing money to trade. At forexbrokers.Com, it’s our mission to assist you as much as possible with that research.
Most trusted forex brokers comparison
Taken from our forex broker comparison tool, here's a comparison of the must trusted forex brokers.
Feature | IG visit site | swissquote | CMC markets visit site | saxo bank visit site |
trust score | 99 | 99 | 99 | 99 |
year founded | 1974 | 1996 | 1989 | 1992 |
publicly traded (listed) | yes | yes | yes | no |
bank | yes | yes | no | yes |
tier-1 licenses | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
tier-2 licenses | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
tier-3 licenses | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
authorised in the european union | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Questions to ask to avoid a forex trading scam
- Is the broker regulated?
- If regulated, how trustworthy is the regulatory body?
- Is the broker offering profits or rewards for opening an account?
- Is the broker offering a cash bonus for opening an account?
- Is the broker offering automatic trades or signals to guarantee profits?
- Is any credible information about the company included on its website, such as company history, financials, headquarters' address, or similar?
- If awards are cited, can I verify their authenticity?
- If a big corporate sponsorship is promoted (e.G. Athlete sponsorship), am I doing my due dilligence to ensure the company can be trusted?
1) is the broker regulated?
Unregulated brokers do not have to report to a governing body. This means that if they scam you in any way, whether it be “glitches” or “malfunctions” causing sever slippage in their system, or you go to make a withdrawal and they don’t process it (steal your money), you are out of luck. Beyond posting a bad review online, there is little you can do because these brokers have no legal authority to answer to.
How do I check if a broker is regulated? The easiest way to check a broker’s registration is to look for it at the bottom of the website. The picture below is the bottom of 12trader, a broker we recommend avoiding. You’ll notice that nowhere in this picture is a regulatory body mentioned. The “about us” pages on the site link to an account login prompt. Nowhere on the site is there any mention of regulation or company history. All of these warning signs should make you cautious.
Now let’s look at the bottom of the homepage of city index, a trusted and regulated broker.
You will notice 1) the company specifically warns of the risks involved in trading cfds, 2) the company is registered in england and wales and has posted an address, and 3) the company is authorized and regulated by the financial conduct authority, and has posted a registration number.
Conclusion: A regulated broker is required to include proper risk disclaimers and regulatory information at the bottom of all their website pages. To make it easy for investors, forexbrokers.Com includes a trust score for each broker, which assesses overall trustworthiness based on where the broker is regulated and its history as a firm.
2) if regulated, how trustworthy is the regulatory body?
Some scam brokers claim to be regulated and registered by a governing body that does not monitor or regulate forex companies.
For example, let’s look at evolve markets.
The disclosures at the bottom of the homepage give the appearance of a regulated broker. There is a warning of the risks of trading cfds, and there is a legal section. Upon further examination of the legal section, you’ll notice that while the firm is registered as an international broker company in st. Vincent & the grenadines, it is not regulated.
This statement from st. Vincent & the grenadines shows there is a warning against false claims of registration or license.
How do I know what regulatory bodies are legitimate?
Forex brokers that are regulated in a major hub are always more trustworthy. Brokers in emerging hubs can also be trustworthy, but caution is warranted. Based on our annual study of regulatory trustworthiness, here is a list of the regulatory bodies we track and how trustworthy each one is:
- FCA regulated – financial conduct authority – united kingdom – (great)
- Cysec regulated – cyprus securities & exchange commission – cyprus (OK)
- ASIC regulated – australian securities & investment commission – australia (good)
- SFC authorized – securities futures commission – hong kong (good)
- MAS authorized – monetary authority of singapore – singapore (good)
- FSA authorized – financial services agency – japan (good)
- IIROC authorized – investment industry regulatory organization of canada – canada (good)
- FINMA authorized – swiss financial market supervisory authority – switzerland (good)
- FMA authorized – financial markets authority – new zealand (OK)
Conclusion: double check the authority of the governing body that regulates the broker you are looking at. You can go to the website of the governing body to search for the registration number and verify its legitimacy. To help investors find a trusted broker where they live, we have created country-specific forex broker guides.
3) is the broker offering profits or rewards for opening an account?
Scam brokers often make claims such as “make $50 a day from a $250 investment” or “make 80% returns on profit signals” or “96% success rate.” these claims are a scam, regardless of whether they are being made for forex, cfds, or binary options. Forex brokers should not promise returns at all, small or large. Simply put, if a broker is promising to make you money, it is a scam. Other common scam practices include advertising pictures of expensive cars that are given away to lucky investors.
This wikipedia page on binary options does a great job of summarizing risks related to binary options:
"many binary option "brokers" have been exposed as fraudulent operations. In those cases, there is no real brokerage; the customer is betting against the broker, who is acting as a bucket shop. Manipulation of price data to cause customers to lose is common. Withdrawals are regularly stalled or refused by such operations; if a client has good reason to expect payment, the operator will simply stop taking their phone calls. Though binary options sometimes trade on a regulated exchange, they are generally unregulated, trading on the internet, and prone to fraud."
Conclusion: if a binary options or forex broker promises you big returns on your money, this is a clear sign of a scam. You will not make $100,000 on a mega-trade; you will not make a 96% profit in 30 seconds; and you will not win a $40,000 car by depositing $2,000. Save your money and STAY AWAY.
4) is the broker offering a cash bonus for opening an account?
When a broker offers an abnormally high cash bonus, is not regulated, and does not show offer details for the bonus, then you are likely dealing with a scam broker. For example, 1000extra hints at a bonus of $1,000 with their vague promotional offer. If you click around trying to gather more information you are redirected to sign up for an account.
1000extra is not regulated, has minimal information about the company, and has scam reports across the web.
Conclusion: in most regulated regions around the world, promotional bonuses for opening a new account are not allowed. The two exceptions are the united states, which is for US citizens only, and asia.
5) is the broker offering automatic trades or signals to guarantee profits? Continue reading
About the author: steven hatzakis steven hatzakis is the global director of research for forexbrokers.Com. Steven previously served as an editor for finance magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.
Trading cfds, FX, and cryptocurrencies involve a high degree of risk. All providers have a percentage of retail investor accounts that lose money when trading cfds with their company. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money and whether you understand how cfds, FX, and cryptocurrencies work. All data was obtained from a published website as of 12/14/2020 and is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed. The forexbrokers.Com staff is constantly working with its online broker representatives to obtain the latest data. If you believe any data listed above is inaccurate, please contact us using the link at the bottom of this page.
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IG - 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading cfds with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Advertiser disclosure: forexbrokers.Com helps investors across the globe by spending over 1,000 hours each year testing and researching online brokers. How do we make money? Our partners compensate us through paid advertising. While partners may pay to provide offers or be featured, e.G. Exclusive offers, they cannot pay to alter our recommendations, advice, ratings, or any other content throughout the site. Furthermore, our content and research teams do not participate in any advertising planning nor are they permitted access to advertising campaign data. Here is a list of our partners.
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Forex scams
Top 7 forex scams to avoid today
As forex markets promise to give you an incredible return on investment, they became trendy in the last few years. However, often forex traders don’t have a great understanding of how forex markets work and what a forex broker does exactly, which leaves the latter a lot of room to scam the trader. Whether it is about proposals on instagram or simply fake investment advice, beware.
It’s a complicated industry, and even experienced people fall victim to intricate trading schemes. There are quite a few variations of the forex fraud. Let’s take a look at a few of them. Feel free to add names of questionable forex platforms in the comments section, at the bottom of the article.
Forex trading strategies – scam 1: the whole package
According to the specialists at investorguide.Com, this might come your way by crooks “creating false customer accounts for the purpose of generating commissions, selling software that is supposed to garner large profits for the customer, false claims of customers making huge money, the theft of a customer’s account and phony marketing.
Forex scams draw customers in with sophisticated advertisements placed in the newspaper, heard on the radio, or seen on internet websites.
Recommended read: sell annuity payments scam
Forex promoters often lure investors into scams with various assurances, including their ability to predict an increase in currency prices and claims of high returns with low risk. An unregulated financial company trading off-exchange forex, foreign currency futures and options contracts with retail customers is illicit and may be a fraud or scam.
In many cases, investors may be guaranteed high returns in the tens of thousands of dollars over a few weeks or months, with a relatively low initial investment. In reality, the investor’s money is never used for forex trading, but is simply stolen.”
Watch the video below see a few extra tips from a victim, talking about forex scams, training courses, and hedge funds.
Forex trading strategies – scam 2: computer manipulation of bid/ask spreads
How does this scam work? According to dailyforex.Com (a great team of analysts and researchers who watch the market throughout the day to provide unique perspectives and helpful analysis on forex trading), “the point spread between the bid and ask basically reflects the commission of a back and forth transaction processed through a broker. The point spreads differ widely among brokers and differ between currency pairs.
Since brokers don’t usually offer the normal two- to three-point spread in the EUR/USD, for example, but go for spreads of seven pips or more, any potential gains resulting from a good investment were eaten away by commissions. These commissions found themselves in the broker’s pocket.
Suggested read: sell my structured settlement fraud
Today, it is unusual to find a broker that claims he takes a commission. Don’t be fooled by this promotion. He is still making his money from the difference in the spread but spreads are now regulated and only smaller spreads are permitted.
However, there are still offshore retail forex brokers who are not regulated by the CFTC, NFA or their nation of origin and it’s quite easy for these firms to pack up and disappear with the money when confronted with investigations of irregularities”. Great explanation by dailyforex.Com.
Suggested read: 13 gold IRA investment scams
Forex strategies – scam 3: commingling funds
In law, commingling is a breach of trust in which a fiduciary mixes funds that he holds in the care of a client with his own funds, making it difficult to determine which funds belong to the fiduciary and which belong to the client.
When it comes to the forex scam, the same team at dailyforex.Com explains: “commingling funds gives forex brokers the opportunity to pocket much of an investor’s money without the client ever noticing any discrepancy. The broker benefits financially during the trading and eventually disappears with a customer’s money.”
“if a forex trader looks carefully and states vigilant he/she can pick up are certain warning signs which can alert him/her when all is not on the straight and narrow. If a broker won’t allow the withdrawal of monies from investor accounts or if problems exist within the trading station, the trader should take immediate notice.
Additionally, guarantees of high performance levels-some much higher than those offered by other forex brokers-should be viewed with considerable skepticism.”
Suggested read: 15 types of securities fraud
Forex strategies – scam 4: robots/automated systems
Surprised? Don’t be. This is an increasing scam especially with the advancement of the technology. Questionable brokers sell automatic trading systems which claim to generate automatic trades even when the trader is sleeping.
Some shady companies sell their special “packages” for thousands of dollars, only to find out that some of these you can find on the internet for free.
“most of these robots have not been tested by an independent source for formal review. Their trading system’s parameters and optimization codes are usually invalid and at the end of the day, the system generates totally random buy and sell signals”, concludes dailyforex.Com.
Suggested read: list with government grants for individuals
Forex strategies – scam 5: fake investments funds
All kinds of HYIP funds have been notoriously showing up everywhere. Simply because they work; for the scammers! The high yield investment program funds ‘guarantee’ you a great level of return for temporary use of your money in their forex fund.
The concept that sells this ponzi scheme is that the investors of yesterday get paid back by the investors of tomorrow. How the scam works is that once the fund runs out of prospects, it closes down and takes whatever money it has with it.
Must read: online college course scam
Forex strategies – scam 6: signal seller membership
Just like the robots, certain ‘signal sellers’ claim to sell you information on which trades you should make in order to get rich. The trick is – they charge a weekly or monthly fee for their service (‘signals’).
Little do you know that not only you are lose your money, but they do not even offer you anything that will help improve your trading!
Forex on instagram – scam 7: fake accounts
With the advancement of technology, there are many well-run online scams on social media when it comes to forex. Some have over a thousand ‘followers’ losing money as the fraud is advertised as a get rich quick scheme.
People are signed up to a trading platform through so-called ‘companies’ and are asked to deposit their hard-earned money to deposit $400 (or EURO). Ultimately, they lose it all through investment advice from kids who earn a kickback when clients give money to the platform used to sign up.
These questionable forex platforms have recruited and paid multiple young adults from ages 18-21 to promote their scheme online. They get paid for luring new people into the system. They also use well known social media influencers to promote them and tell lies about the service.
How to avoid the forex scams:
There are many red flags you should be aware of. The first one would be when you are guaranteed a profit. There are no guarantee profits in forex. Use your computer and search reviews featuring the broker, or the system, or the signal seller.
Make sure the testimonials are genuine and do not come from their own websites. Check all the forex forums and google the name of the broker followed by the word ‘scam’.
Check their website very carefully. If they don’t have a legitimate contact page with phone numbers and emails, that’s another red flag.
Last but not least, keep in mind that there is no ‘miracle’ software that will figure out the forex market for you. If anybody would own that, why would they sell it?
How to report the forex strategies scams:
Make your family and friends aware of this scam by sharing it on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the scammers to the federal trade commission using the link below:
How to protect yourself more:
If you want to be the first to find out the most notorious scams every week, feel free to subscribe to the scam detector newsletter here. You’ll receive periodical emails and we promise not to spam. Last but not least, use the comments section below to expose other scammers.
Related articles:
Verify a website below
Are you just about to make a purchase online? See if the website is legit with our validator:
How to spot a forex (FX) trading scam
Many brits are losing thousands of pounds each to forex scammers, lured by the promise of huge returns. Samuel leach, director of samuel & co. Trading, explains five easy ways to tell if that offer you’ve received is legitimate or a con.
Victims of forex (FX) investment scams lost an average of £14,600 last year as the financial regulator warns that such scams are booming.
The financial conduct authority said scammers stole a total of £27 million through crypto and FX scam in the 2018/19 financial year, with the number of reported crimes tripling compared to the previous year.
Targeting victims on social media
Forex (FX) scams are commonly seen on social media platforms such as facebook, promisingly extremely high returns on currency investments.
If you’re not careful, what seems like the magic solution for boosting your finances could end up trapping you in a cycle of growing debt.
To avoid becoming one of the victims lured in by FX scams, watch out for the following warning signs.
1. Lack of regulation
The first thing to check when you are approached by, or even considering, an apparent FX trading scheme is whether they’re on the financial conduct authority (FCA) register or warning list.
If the business you are dealing with is on the warning list, needless to say, you should avoid them.
Similarly, if they’re not on the FCA register, and therefore not vetted by them, you should question why they would want to avoid regulatory scrutiny.
Even if they aren’t actively seeking to scam you, investing with an unregulated firm is risky as you won’t be protected by the financial services compensation scheme, meaning there’s little chance of getting your money back if there’s malpractice.
You should also check individuals aren’t simply pretending to work for a legitimate company.
To check the firm you’re dealing with isn’t a clone, get in touch with the named company independently using its firm reference and switchboard number.
2. Over-promising
As with all investments, forex trading comes with a risk. If the individual offering to manage your money is downplaying the likelihood of you losing it, or promising significant returns, alarm bells should be ringing.
Although we’d love it to be different, if something sounds too good to be true, the chances are it is.
3. No live track record
Always ask for a track record of verified stats from live trading accounts, so you can assess their capabilities for yourself.
If they have one, they’ll be happy to send a link to a tracking website, such as myfxbook, which will show you years of data.
If they refuse or offer to show you stats from demo accounts, you should exercise caution.
A demo account might initially seem as good a proof as any for their competence, but it only proves their ability to make or lose virtual money and, as any good trader will tell you, it takes a certain mindset to be successful in a live trading situation.
Ultimately, you should ask yourself why you would trust them to trade with your money when they aren’t confident trading with their own.
4. Pressure to deposit money
Any legitimate FX trader would want you to be entirely comfortable investing with them before you transfer any money.
As such, they would never pressure you to deposit funds during your first conversation or try to incentivise you to act quickly with limited time offers.
If an individual is doing this you should terminate your interactions immediately, as it’s highly likely they’re trying to involve you in a scam.
Advice to not withdraw your money at any time should also be met with similar scepticism.
5. Evasion
Those with nothing to hide have no reason to be evasive, so be conscious of whether the person you are talking to is answering your questions up front or trying to divert your focus, talk over you, or even getting argumentative.
If you’re unsure whether they’re intending to be evasive ask them the location of their offices.
A legitimate trader wouldn’t find this question out of the ordinary or offensive. If they do, they’ll reveal themselves through their refusal to give you the answer.
Similarly, you could request a meeting at their offices.
An authentic organisation would understand your desire to learn more about them and the specific person who would be managing your funds, whereas a con artist would deny your request.
When conducted by a trained professional, FX trading can deliver significant financial returns.
However, the promise of these shouldn’t blind you to the signs that the individual or company offering to trade with your funds is running an illegitimate operation.
Unfortunately, if you’ve invested in a scam once, you’re far more likely to be targeted again or to have your details sold on to other criminals, so to prevent this happening in the first place always exercise caution.
Samuel leach is the director of samuel & co. Trading.The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of lovemoney.
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TRADERA REVIEW 2020 –IS TRADERA A SCAM OR LEGIT FOREX TRADING COMPANY?
People who are conversant with forex trading have heard one or two things about tradera but surprisingly, some of them barely know how tradera actually works.
By and large, tradera is a company founded by the duo of kody sell and eastern harris as a platform for educating and guiding interested people on the strategies for monetizing forex trading.
As some people constantly ask whether tradera is a legit forex-specific platform, it’s essential to give an honest review of the platform with special emphasis on how it works.
Therefore in this article, you’ll find out almost everything you wish to know about tradera.
Is tradera legit?
There are a number of reasons to substantiate that tradera is far from being a scam. Besides the fact that hundreds and thousands of tradera members have shared testimonies of the compensation plans they received, tradera works in consonance with the regulations that guide US MLM companies.
Some of the other evidence-based reasons why tradera is legit are;
- Unlike what we see among MLM companies, tradera’s operational structure hasn’t changed from how it was at the beginning
- Tradera doesn’t offer deceptive or inaccurate trade signals to its members
- The forex platform has maintained substantial consistency and remained transparent ever since it was founded
- Tradera uses a domain name that was registered in texas, united states
- Tradera is under the competent management of experienced and reliable forex professionals
How to make money on tradera
Making money from tradera forex trading platform is very realistic and basically, the trading platform offers two different methods by which its users can earn money. This is to say that as a tradera user, you can make money through (i) referral commissions or (ii) forex commissions. Whichever method you prefer for making money on tradera, it behoves you to first register as a tradera affiliate. You’ll find out more about tradera registration process in this very article.
Tradera registration process
As implied earlier, registering as a tradera affiliate (alternatively as an affiliate member) is highly required before one can begin making money on tradera. While there are two ways you can become a tradera affiliate, the membership plan considered best is being an affiliate member cum tradera customer with 1 level package cost. Interestingly, this membership plan comes with extra benefits.
Notably, the tradera forex platform offers a number of membership plans. Your chosen membership plan determines whether you’ll have access to special tradera offers. While tradera offers a combined membership plan (which guarantees access to more incentives), you may opt for the client membership plan alone at first if you can’t afford the cost of the former. Below is a detailed list of tradera membership plans:
- IBO membership: this is a (monthly) membership plan which you can subscribe to at the cost of $15. Your subscription to IBO membership has to be renewed every 4 weeks, alternatively 28 days.
- Client membership: this happens to be the membership plan you have to consider to get started with tradera. Your subscription to this plan costs $99 and is renewed every 28 days.
- Premium membership: this is a combined plan (incorporating client and IBO memberships). To subscribe to this plan –which offers extra incentives –you’ll be charged a total of ($99 + $15) $114 and your subscription will be renewed every 28 days.
Tradera rank levels: what you should know about them
It’s important that you understand tradera ranking and hope to elevate your rank while using the forex trading platform. As noted earlier, the premium monthly tradera subscription is the best of the three membership plans available to tradera users. Therefore, having a monthly premium subscription props you up for a higher level rank. Also, you can boost your tradera ranking by building a team which sponsors three persons so that such persons enjoy free monthly membership.
Importantly, below are the various tradera rank levels plus what it takes to reach each of them:
- Founder: you’re required to have kept up 3 active members on 3 legs before you can reach this tradera rank level
- Night: you’re required to have maintained 4 active members, 4 active members again and finally 2 active members on your 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd legs respectively before you can reach this rank level
- Knoble: tradera expects you to have kept up 10 active members, 10 active members again and finally 5 active members on your 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd legs respectively before you can reach the “knoble” rank level
- Bishop: you’re required to keep up 30 active members, 30 active members again and finally 15 active members on your 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd legs respectively before tradera can move you to the “bishop” rank level
- Duke/duchess: tradera expects you to have maintained 100 active members, 100 active members again and finally 50 active members on your 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd legs respectively before you can reach this rank level
- Prince/princess: you’re required to keep up 200 active members, 200 active members again and finally 100 active members on your 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd legs respectively before you can be moved to this rank level
- King/queen: tradera requires you to have maintained 400 active members, 400 active members again and finally 200 active members on your 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd legs respectively before you can qualify for the “king” or “queen” rank level
- Emperor/empress: you’re expected to have kept up 1,000 active members, 1,000 active members again and finally 500 active members on your 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd legs respectively before you can be placed in this rank level
- Legend: to become a “legend” which is tradera’s highest rank level attainable, you’re expected to keep up 2,000 active members, 2,000 active members again and finally 1,000 active members on your 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd legs respectively
Tradera referral commissions: what you earn at each rank level
Tradera offers referral commissions, making it a profitable venture for forex traders with high referrals. At the initial stage, tradera rewards you with a referral bonus of $150 but for this, you must have got your first three legs within one month, precisely 28 days. In other words, getting your three downlines qualifies you for a referral commission of $150 but you should note that this bonus isn’t continual.
Personally getting your three recruited downlines on tradera qualifies you for the founder rank level. At this level, you’ll enjoy a free monthly membership plan although without the $150 referral bonus. Note that it is only at the founder level that you’re entitled to a free membership plan. Anyway, you shouldn’t frown upon this since you’re certain to earn considerably (even more than what’s needed for your monthly membership plan) as you progress to higher tradera rank levels. Below is a comprehensive list of what you stand to earn at each tradera rank level:
- Founder –a reward in the form of free monthly membership
- Night –a weekly reward of $125
- Knoble –a weekly reward of $250
- Bishop –a weekly reward of $500
- Duke/duchess –a weekly reward of $1,250
- Prince/princess –a weekly reward of $2500
- King/queen –a weekly reward of $5000
- Emperor/empress –a weekly reward of $12,500
- Legend –a weekly reward of $25,000
Conclusion
We hope this review has opened your eyes to everything you need to know about tradera particularly including what you stand to benefit from trading on the platform as well as the fact that it’s a legit forex trading company.
Forex trading scams
Find out how unauthorised forex trading and brokerage firms work, how to avoid scams and what to do if you are scammed.
UK consumers are being increasingly targeted by unauthorised forex trading and brokerage firms offering the chance to trade in foreign exchange, contracts for difference, binary options, cryptoassets and other commodities.
They promise very high returns and guaranteed profits, either through a managed account where the firm makes trades on the investor’s behalf or by trading using the firm’s trading platform.
We are aware that scammers are targeting consumers searching for investments online, in particular through search engines like google and bing. Although some scammers offer high returns to tempt you into investing, they may also offer realistic returns to make their offer appear more legitimate. Those offering or promoting products or investment opportunities found through search engines are not necessarily authorised or regulated by the FCA. You can check the FCA warning list for firms to avoid.
How forex (FX) trading and brokerage scams work
Most consumers report they have initially received some returns from the firm to give the impression that their trading has been a success.
They will then be encouraged to invest more money but at this stage or soon after the returns stop, their account is suspended and there’s no further contact with the firm.
Many scam firms claim to be based in the UK and even claim to be FCA authorised.
Beware of clone firms
Many bogus trading and brokerage firms will use the name, ‘firm registration number’ (FRN) and address of firms and individuals who are FCA authorised. This is called a ‘clone firm’.
The scammers then give their own phone number, address and website details, sometimes claiming that a firm's contact details on the register are out of date.
Scammers might also claim to be an overseas firm, which don’t always have their full contact and website details listed on the register.
Scammers may even copy the website of an authorised firm, making subtle changes such as the phone number.
How to protect yourself
You should check the FCA register of authorised firms before dealing with any firm. If they’re not authorised by us, it’s probably a scam. You can also check our warning list of firms to avoid.
If the firm’s contact details aren’t on the register or the firm claims they’re out of date, call our consumer helpline on 0800 111 6768.
You should check the firm isn’t a clone firm by asking for their firm reference number (FRN) and contact details and then calling them back on the switchboard number on our register – never use a link in an email or website from the firm offering you an investment.
Always be wary if you’re contacted out of the blue, pressured to invest quickly or promised returns that sound too good to be true.
You should seriously consider seeking financial advice or guidance before investing. You should make sure that any firm you deal with is regulated by us and never take investment advice from the company that contacted you, as this may be part of the scam.
The money advice service has information on investing and about how to find a financial adviser. Alternatively, you could get further information from a group that represents advisers such as PIMFA.
If you have been scammed
You can report the firm or scam to us by contacting our consumer helpline on 0800 111 6768 or using our reporting form.
If you’ve invested with a firm that’s not authorised by the FCA, your investment is not protected by the UK’s financial services complaints and compensation scheme.
If you have already invested in a scam, fraudsters are likely to target you again or sell your details to other criminals.
The follow-up scam may be completely separate or related to the previous fraud, such as an offer to get your money back or to buy back the investment after you pay a fee.
If you have any concerns at all about a potential scam, contact us immediately.
Investment scam: I lost $50 000 in fake online trading
My story
I was contacted over the phone by an online trader who specialised in binary options, cryptocurrency and forex trading. He said his company was on the cutting edge and used the latest technology and could offer guaranteed returns. I invested a few thousand and used their online platform, which seemed to work very well. I could see my trades were resulting in good profits. I invested more at their insistence and they promised I would earn even more.
When I wanted to withdraw my money I was told I would need to pay taxes on my profits before I could access it. I was never warned about this but they insisted I needed to pay taxes before I could get my money back. After I asked for my money, my trades started to fail and my accumulated profits were starting to decrease. They pressured me to invest more so that I could reverse the situation by increasing my ‘trades volume’. They said I would lose everything unless I invested more as an emergency.
I feel very embarrassed by this scam — they were very convincing and professional. They stated I would be ‘kicked off the market’ because my trades were failing and I was reduced to three per cent of my initial investment but by that point I knew it was all fake.
Signs this was a scam
- Phoned out of the blue by a stranger offering unsolicited advice on investments
- Told he had to pay additional fees (taxes in this case) to access his money, though he was not informed of this earlier
- Offered ‘guaranteed returns’
- Encouraged to invest more by being promised higher returns, and then pressured to do so or risk of losing all of his money.
Avoid this type of scam
- Hang up on the caller and taken some time to think about it. Do research and seek trusted or independent financial or legal advice.
- Check on the ASIC website to ensure the business is a registered financial advisor. Any business or person that offers or advises you about financial products must be an australian financial services licence holder. Check ASIC's list of companies you should not deal with.
*the story above is based on one or more real scam reports received by the ACCC. For privacy purposes the names and images of victims have not been used.
Have you been scammed?
If you think you've been scammed or know someone who has, report it to the ACCC using our report a scam page.
Report a scam
If you have lost money, contact your bank or financial institution immediately.
How to avoid online trading scams
Forex trading is a popular investment opportunity for many traders, but if you are new to trading then there are some things that you need to be acutely aware of first. While there are a large number of reputable brokers offering their services to traders across the world, unfortunately there are also those looking to make money from unsuspecting victims.
As a new trader, you may not know what you are looking for or be equipped to recognise a forex trading scam. Obviously, this will cause you some concern when you are looking to invest your money. There are vital things to look out for though to ensure that you choose to trade with a genuine forex broker and avoid subscribing to any of the services that proclaim to make you thousands of dollars.
This guide explains how to spot and avoid common online scams such as forex signal sellers, managed investment funds and fake broker companies designed to defraud investors.
Because the forex market is not fully regulated, disreputable individuals can establish scams to pose as legitimate brokers. Always check online reviews and verify company credentials before investing.
Don’t be put off by the scammers, there are ways to protect yourself. Don’t rely on google ads, research forums and consumer pages to check the brokers you want to consider.
Consider brokers that offer demo accounts and attractive bonuses, but be wary of offers that seem too good to be true. Check brokers are licenced by checking the regulator’s website.
A typical scam example
There are many forex trading scams that are operating under the radar; others are just bold and offer their amazing deals in plain sight. While there are many fake "opportunities" operating in various countries around the world, there are some that are more common than others.
Among the popular schemes designed to relieve you of your hard-earned cash are fake forex signal sellers, managed investment funds and the everyday old dishonest scam broker. A phoney forex broker will talk a good game; they will offer you amazing spreads, promise that you will make significant returns and even go so far as to provide fake testimonials.
What happens when you make a deposit? Well, you can be sure you won't see your money again. Unfortunately, while the forex market is subject to a certain amount of regulation, it is not entirely regulated which makes it possible for scam brokers to operate in the main arena, often giving the industry a bad name.
Why forex scams exist
To honest, hardworking people, the mere fact that these scams exist can be mind-boggling. Why would anyone want to carry out this kind of fraud and deception? Well, unlike those who have solid morals, some people will stop at nothing to make a quick buck, even going to criminal lengths to defraud millions of people from hard-working and respectable people like yourself.
Because the market is not entirely regulated, just like binary options, anyone can set up a trading platform and sell their services. All they have to do is emulate what all the honest brokers are doing and make you buy into it. If you are new to trading, it is likely that you will not know how to spot a scam broker and will see only the promise of good returns.
With no experience, how do you know what you should be looking for? It is this lack of knowledge that encourages rogue brokers to entice new traders to open accounts and deposit their funds. While brokers in most countries are required to operate with a trading license, this does not apply to every country. It is only a matter of time before they get discovered, but this gives them enough time to make a substantial amount of money from innocent investors like yourself.
How you can spot a scam
The first thing to understand is that to make a scam attractive, it often appears too good to be true. This is the first alarm bell that should ring. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Other key things that will help you to stop a fake broker are the online reviews and feedback that you find about them online.
If you carry out the simple exercise of entering the company name into google and they are operating under false pretences, you will discover a lot, including lots of online forums with stories from others that have been defrauded of their cash. Of course, if it is a new scam, this might be a little more difficult, but it is always worth checking before signing up with a broker.
Check to see if the broker is licensed. This should be at the footer of their website and include the logo of the broker and the licensing or regulation number.
You definitely don't need to be a victim if you know what to look out for.
How to avoid being a victim
Don't be put off by the existence of scam forex brokers. You don't need to be a victim if you know what to look out for. Exercise caution when choosing your broker. The company or parent company must be licensed, and they must be regulated. Look for those that carry cysec, ASIC or mifid licensing logos and numbers, for example.
If you carry out a little online research, you can find the most popular brokers that are universally recommended. Often the best brokers are recommended multiple times as brokers that offer a whole host of benefits. Be careful how you choose them as well. Just because you see them listed in the google ads, for example, doesn't mean they are legitimate. Any company can pay for these spots.
See if the broker offers a welcome bonus and demo account. Also, it's always a good idea to look for the deposit they require and the terms and conditions attached to this. If you can afford to lose a small amount, then deposit the minimum. Don't let the existence of these scam operations deter you from enjoying forex trading. For more help and advice on online scams or scams, in general, please visit the resources below;
so, let's see, what we have: our list of NOT trusted forex brokers. Watch out for these forex brokers, that show many signs of scam. Contact us with your own experience of scamming forex brokers. At legit forex trading companies
Contents of the article
- New forex bonuses
- Forex brokers to avoid
- Table of contents
- Investigated brokers
- Latest added forex brokers to avoid
- Most trusted forex brokers
- Most trusted crypto brokers
- Regulating trade authorities
- Forex scams
- Top 7 forex scams to avoid today
- Forex trading strategies – scam 1: the...
- Forex trading strategies – scam 2:...
- Forex strategies – scam 3: commingling...
- Forex strategies – scam 4:...
- Forex strategies – scam 5: fake...
- Forex strategies – scam 6: signal seller...
- Forex on instagram – scam 7: fake accounts
- How to avoid the forex scams:
- How to report the forex...
- How to protect yourself more:
- Related articles:
- How to avoid forex trading scams in 2021
- Most trusted forex brokers comparison
- Questions to ask to avoid a forex trading scam
- 1) is the broker regulated?
- 2) if regulated, how trustworthy is the...
- How do I know what regulatory bodies are...
- 3) is the broker offering profits or rewards for...
- 4) is the broker offering a cash bonus for...
- 5) is the broker offering automatic trades or...
- Forex scams
- Top 7 forex scams to avoid today
- Forex trading strategies – scam 1: the...
- Forex trading strategies – scam 2:...
- Forex strategies – scam 3: commingling...
- Forex strategies – scam 4:...
- Forex strategies – scam 5: fake...
- Forex strategies – scam 6: signal seller...
- Forex on instagram – scam 7: fake accounts
- How to avoid the forex scams:
- How to report the forex...
- How to protect yourself more:
- Related articles:
- How to spot a forex (FX) trading scam
- Many brits are losing thousands of pounds each to...
- Targeting victims on social media
- 1. Lack of regulation
- 2. Over-promising
- 3. No live track record
- 4. Pressure to deposit money
- 5. Evasion
- Comments
- TRADERA REVIEW 2020 –IS TRADERA A SCAM OR LEGIT...
- Is tradera legit?
- How to make money on tradera
- Tradera registration process
- Tradera rank levels: what you should know about...
- Tradera referral commissions: what you earn at...
- Conclusion
- Forex trading scams
- How forex (FX) trading and brokerage scams work
- Beware of clone firms
- How to protect yourself
- If you have been scammed
- Investment scam: I lost $50 000 in fake online...
- My story
- Signs this was a scam
- Avoid this type of scam
- Have you been scammed?
- Report a scam
- How to avoid online trading scams
- A typical scam example
- Why forex scams exist
- How you can spot a scam
- How to avoid being a victim
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