Problem with Cyprus Trading firm, they withholding my profits as made a complaint

Beginner Questions
1

Hi I am new to forex

I opened an account with a company based in Cyprus I am from the UK, they are regulated by Cyprus ombudsman.

When I opened I got lots of calls saying if I deposit 1000usd I would get 1000usd bonus and be upgraded to a premium account, and then I would have access to a broker. The rang me 4-5 times a day (very pushy sales) until I eventually did do a deposit of 1000.

I didn’t get the bonus as it was points based and my account was upgraded but I wasn’t informed that my minimum trade would increase.

Instead of upgrading me to a premium account they upgraded me to platinum without telling me, this meant my minimum trade went up drastically.

Standard account minimum trade was 10000usd, premium is 25000usd and platinum is 100000usd, therefore a 1000usd deposit on a platinum account wouldn’t last long, I was also told by the company that normally to be on platinum you have to deposit 5000usd.

Because of being put on platinum to maintain a trade I kept depositing and lost nearly 3000 usd.

This was irresponsible of them because they new I was a newbie so I sent them a complaint and also requested to be changed back to a standard account which they did.

Initially when I complained they were saying no they reject my complaint as I agreed to the terms and conditions but I didn’t agree to be on platinum and I have calls recorded etc confirming that they were putting me on premium not platinum which I have sent the company.

Whilst I submit the complaint I was still trading and have made 1500 usd profit.

The company has agreed to refund my initial 3000 usd deposit and close my account but I cannot have my profit that I have made, which I said is unfair and they want to sign an agreement that I withdraw all complaints from the regulators etc.

When I email them saying this is unfair I just get the same reply everytime saying you agreed to the terms and conditions and that this is the only offer take it or leave it, they only gave me 3 business days to decide, they sent the letter Monday evening.

I have all calls recorded and emails etc from them.

This is unfair, anybody had similar problems? I said that they should have stopped me from trading whilst I complained if that was the case, in affect this is daylight robbery!

2

Hi Real,

The first thing I’m going to say is…

[B][U]I opened an account with a company based in Cyprus I am from the UK, they are regulated by Cyprus ombudsman. [/U][/B]

This is your problem.

Cyprus is a small island and their regulator is a small hut somewhere with 2-3 people who don’t care, never go with a broker like this and unfortunately you’ve had to learn the hard way.

I would only go with a broker in the UK that is listed as being regulated by the FCA or the equivalent for the US, anything else spells trouble.

Sorry for the loss bud but I doubt there is much you can do in this situation.

Regards,
Steven

3

It ain’t a “Cyprus Trading firm”. It’s a Cyprus bucket shop. :46:
Best you should do is to get your money back and invest it with some real brokerage house. There are a plenty out there. Just research next time. :o

4

Hopefully they will refund my money. They put it in writing that they will and I have agreed to just accept that now.

But now they are taking a while to respond, so let’s see.

I paid through PayPal to deposit money into the account, I suppose I can dispute through them if no joy.

5

Make sure you don’t run out of time, to do that, though: some crooks will deliberately spin out the communications for [I]just[/I] long enough to prevent that.

Wishing you good luck.

Note for the future that the reasons that so many dodgy/crooked counterparty market-makers who are pretending to be brokers [I][U]choose[/U][/I] Cyprus as a place to be regulated are [B]not[/B] reasons that are in their clients’ interests.

6

Have you tried to file complaint to CySEC financial ombudsman?

7

Hi

I sent cysec my complaint mid December and no response.

I called them yesterday and they said the lady that deals with it is off, however the lady I spoke to said that it can take upto 9 months to try and get a result and it’s not enforceable against the company unless we take them to court.

Since speaking to them I just agreed with the company to have my deposits back as they were came across dodgy and didnt want to risk totally losing out.

So I signed their declaration today to accept their decision, they then emailed me saying they will only now release funds once they have confirmation that I have withdrawn all complaints from cysec and any other regulator.

So I had to cc them in and said of they refund my 3000 odd usd deposit even though it’s not the full amount then they I will withdraw it.

I didn’t want to end up losing the 3k aswell. But the company were definitely dodgy, and only came around to agree the refunds after I sent them one of the recorded calls to prove I had proof…

But none of their documents they sent admitted to anything, they just put to resolve this amicably we will refund your deposits only

8

Yes indeed … CySec is close to useless compared with for example the FCA (which is, of course, part of the reason why such companies choose to be regulated in Cyprus).

For what it’s worth, if anything, you’re far from alone. People only realise this after “something went wrong”.

However, it certainly seems as if you’re handling the situation particularly well, and very much better than most people would be! :cool:

Sure … you’re not going to do better than an “[I]ex gratia[/I]” deposit refund without admission of liability. And even managing that will be [U]way[/U] better than the norm, in such situations - deservedly so, since you’re clearly far better researched and prepared than the average punter. Hoping it all goes smoothly for you from here.

9

Honestly your case sounds like a total scam. Offering you a bonus equal to your deposit, calling you 4-5 times a day…seriously?! This sounds like harassing to me. Brokers which offer such big bonuses like this and pushing their clients so aggressively usually are a pure scam. Try to contact PayPal to see if they could offer you any help. I really hope that you would be able to get your money back but in the future be extra cautious for the brokers that you trust.