Please, share your experience with scam brokers in this thread and tell us how you got scammed.
Unfortuantely I am going to have to add HotForex to this thread, They have taken nearly $260 of my money back as part of a bonus removal despite there being more than enough equity in the account. Live CHat have asked me to provide copies of chat and deposits so either they are stalling for time or there might be a mistake. So far not looking good.
Ive had that happened. They do that only if you lose all you funds on a margin call. Obviously they arent going to let you lose their funds also, so when you have zero of your own equity, they will pull the bonus out. To claim the bonus, you get $1. per 1 lot traded.
Trix wrote: “despite there being more than enough equity in the account”.
@trix: I’m pretty sure there must be a misunderstanding. trading with hotforex is like silky smooth 
and I pretty sure support will sort things out when everything is clear. keep us posted if its fixed and all the best
Sorry jingoy but the bonus ‘issue’ ASIDE how RIDICULOUS is THIS:
When was the last time YOU saved a ‘Live Chat’ with your broker (and backed up any previous ‘Live Chat’ records onto CD or DVD over the past few months or years)??? Not to mention that THEY should know of any deposits and not be asking the CLIENT!!! As a matter of fact and come to think of it: don’t deposits and withdrawals show up in the trading platform (ANY trading platform)??? LOL!!!
One thing is surprising though: the (short) length of this thread!!! This should be the longest thread on BabyPips!!! POSSIBLY second only to one or two of mine and one or two others (and note I use the word ‘POSSIBLY’)!!! LOL!!!
Regards,
Dale.
Hehe, probably everybody has read and written enough about scam brokers, and people just don’t want to hear about it anymore.
I have to admit that, now I’ve found a broker for myself which seems to be ok and with whom I’m happy, I am one of those.
I’d rather discuss trading issues than worry about brokers.
Cheers,
O.
Nobody can accuse you of a lack of self-esteem, that much is for sure.
O.
How come I only saw this post of yours now???
I’ll take that as a compliment.
That being said: you’ve seen the posts I post. The length of those two ‘mammoth’ threads that I had going at some point or another could, in all probability, be AT LEAST half their length had somebody else posted the same content without the ‘fluff’ (and that’s before you remove all the ‘late Friday night party posts’)!!! LOL!!!
But still: I happened to notice that Forex Peace Army has somewhere around 2 400 different broker ratings and review pages. So by rights: this thread should contain at least 2 399 posts!!! ROFLOL!!! And that’s just FPA!!! Do you know how many broker review sites there are???
Regards,
Dale.
Yeah, you’re right.
Speaking of long threads … we should post in Leandar’s thread again … God forbid it dies.
O.
Funny: I was thinking about that a bit earlier today. It’d be a pity if it became a ‘corpse thread’. I mean: there’s so much USEFUL and INSPIRING information on that thread!!! LOL!!! Maybe now that he’s trading like a trader: he doesn’t have the time to post anymore!!! LOL!!!
Regards,
Dale.
Haha, yes, probably … let me go and ask him if he’s still alive.
Man !!! I don’t believe on this because Hotforex is one of the my trusted broker. please show me proof if possible.
I was scammed by Tadawul FX. Stay away from them. They move the prices all the time, they are the requate kings!
Complaint filed with the FSCL.org.nz and the ASIC.
PUBLIC COMPLAINT
AGAINST ThinkForex.com
January 27, 2013
I am a brand new client of ThinkForex.com My Live Account number is: XXXXXX.
I know virtually nothing about Forex other than through a few robots (EAs) and installing them on Demo accounts and watching their performance. I have no other experience than this in the world of Forex.
When I signed up (January, 2013) for a Live Account with ThinkForex.com they asked for information on one’s trading experience and I selected “No Experience” in the form. They knew I had no experience from the outset.
When I realized that I also qualified for a Pro Account I applied for same and also asked for leverage to be increased to 1:500. Both requests were confirmed with proofs.
ThinkForex.com Sabotaged My Account
After I allowed a bot (Forex Growth Bot – it was their manual and support team that recommended ThinkForex.com as the Number One broker to use) to run and lose over 20% of my account overnight, I was surprised as this robot had a good track record in recent days. I eventually turned it off and tried my hand at manual trading on my new Live Account. Within a very short time, I became quite successful at making trades on my own. So successful, it appears, that some envious souls in the “Compliance Department” decided to – without notice, warning or reason – shut me down in the middle of trading and open trades, etc.
They sabotaged my account.
As I was making successful trades, all of a sudden, I couldn’t place orders. I tried again and again: nothing. Nothing I did allowed me to continue as I was.
Was it a glitch on my end? Bad connection? I couldn’t determine for sure.
I eventually had to phone their head office in the middle of the night (my time) and spoke to Neha, a supposed “Account Manager”, and told her what had happened and asked if she knew what was wrong: why couldn’t I trade any longer?? She then informed me that my leverage was changed to 1:100!! That’s right: unnamed conspirators (she refused/refuses to name them or let me speak to them, despite asking for same many times) in this so-called “Compliance Department” had devised to, and did in fact, attack me without warning or reason.
No email was ever sent to state what and/or why they had done this evil to me.
I was floored. Shocked. Traumatized. (But this was just the beginning of more wickedness against me.)
I thought, “How can this happen? This is what an enemy would do; not what one’s own brand new & first ever Forex broker – who you are paying through commissions – is supposed to even think of doing!!” (My trading netted them ~3,000 GBP in commissions in a few hours!!)
They certainly wouldn’t want someone to do this to them were situations reversed!! (Neha originally verbally agreed with this statement.)
Neha then said to email her the confirmation that was sent to me. “That would help,” she said.
I shouldn’t have had to do anything. THEY were and are in the wrong and they knew it and they know it. However, I sent the email as further proof. I told her to change it back to the way it was immediately.
She then sent her only response by email telling me to be “patient and understanding”. What a sick joke.
She also said that she would reply with a further email.
She never sent another email.
I didn’t try to make any other trades after the new leverage limited my ability to trade as before. Two trades were left open. Had the leverage been changed back to the original, there would have been no problem. However, as I found out the next morning, about 10,000 GBP was missing from my account balance and no trades were open!!
Once again, I am further traumatized by this broker’s actions!! What is going on?? They are now stealing from my account!! I could hardly believe it!!
I was forced to phone Neha again!! She then tried to wiggle out of her and her conspirator’s wrongs, to no avail. I had told her correct their malicious changes and confirmed with her the same in writing by email. She then tells me that the system “automatically” closed out the losing trades because of margin.
They had refused to change the leverage back to the original!! Now she/they try to blame me for their sabotage and trauma!! This was too much to bear.
I then sent them Terms of Settlement which were as follows below. (Please note that since they were wholly refused, out of hand and without even a written reply, new Terms are being drawn up presently. More trauma, more STUBBORNESS and FALSE ACCUSATIONS on their part mean more restitution that they are liable for.)
Original Terms of Settlement (For Traumas & Losses They Are Liable For)
This is the email that I sent to Neha.
Neha,
No, I shall not ‘understand’ wickedness on the part of people who are being paid to be ethical.
Not only did they curse me by attacking me and my account without warning or reason, they - your company - are not doing what they would wish done to them aka The Golden Rule. I think I know why too.
Further, they have not only not repented of their original attacks, they have continued their assaults and crimes against me and my brand new account, once again without warning or reason.
Neha, you did not follow up with an email regarding these matters as you said you would…and things have now become nightmarish as you know.
I have seen what happens to companies - and people who enable them - who do these sorts of things to innocent people, and it’s not pretty, to say the least.
TERMS OF PEACE
Here are the terms of peace:
The parties responsible for these continuing attacks on my account and soul shall be named.
The named parties shall repent for these attacks in writing, signing and printing their names unless and except they are all fired. If that is the case, their names shall be given and positions held within
ThinkForex as well as the one(s) who fired them. This is part of the record.
The account shall be returned to its original state as per the original confirming email and leverage ratio and amounts therein.
All trades closed by the guilty parties today - once again, without warning/reason - are to be reopened.
As restitution for these ongoing attacks, all commissions shall be refunded and - if I trade through your brokerage in the future - all future commissions shall be 3 units per lot (not 6 as is currently charged).
If all of these terms are met, I will release all compliant parties from further actions.
In Truth,
From: ThinkForex Support <[email protected]>
To:*
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 6:36 AM
Subject: [#BDY-248-76355]: Leverage should be 500:1
Hi*
Thank you for your email. This is to confirm that your request has been received and our compliance team is looking into it. I will get back to you as soon as I get more information in this regard. Thank you for your patience and understanding
Regards
In a follow up phone call, Neha refused – on behalf of the Company – to make any repentance, restitution or even reply to this email.
To add insult to the injuries they continue to cause, she then FALSELY ACCUSED us of “knowing” of the leverage change and blaming us for the injuries they wickedly caused and still defend!! Defending the indefensible.
4
I tried to reach Neha a few more times by phone, but she repeatedly refused to answer: she knew she was guilty.
“Feels Like”
The following account is how I feel – in spirit – ThinkForex has done me in.
Imagine that you have an agreement in place with an Outfit and you are new to the whole business. Now imagine that Outfit, after you are conducting business as agreed, conspiring to sabotage your business and crush you, all while you are thinking they are out to help you “win”.
See yourself walking by a dark alley, not knowing that the Outfit’s Conspirators and Bullies are about to attack you. Without warning, you are struck on the head from behind by unknown assailants. You are severely injured & traumatized as you fall to the ground. You then struggle to see just who has done this to you.
To your shock and horror, it is the very same Outfit that you are paying and have the Agreement with!! As you continue to try and recover and find out why they have done this, they then – all together – start stomping on your head and laughing!!
To make matters worse, they then tell you: “It’s all your fault!!”
This scenario is exactly how I feel ThinkForex.com – through its wicked agents – has treated, and continues to treat, me, their client and their victim.
Needless to say, one cannot feel safe with, nor can they trust, such wicked people.
CONCLUSION
It is clear now that I should not have accepted – without due diligence and fact checking, comparing, etc. - the very high and Number One recommendation of the software maker for the bot I used regarding ThinkForex.com. It makes me wonder if they are in bed together…
Bucket Shop
I did some extra checking on review sites for Forex traders and brokers and found out that ThinkForex meets the exact definition of a “BUCKET SHOP”, to wit:
A brokerage that takes the opposing side of all customer trades and seldom, if ever, passes orders on to the actual market. Bucket shops count on the fact that most forex traders lose money.
Since true bucket shops make money only from spread and from customers losing money, they will go to great lengths to make life difficult for customers who make money trading forex to continue to be profitable and/or to withdraw any profits.
They did exactly this to me.
Since the original Terms of Settlement (Out of Court) have been rudely refused and ignored, we now offer more expensive and public Terms of Settlement, if they do not wish to be sued in court.
TERMS OF SETTLEMENT
These terms are non-negotiable because of the ongoing and severe trauma and losses ThinkForex and its conspirators have caused and continue to cause.
- The guilty parties – inclusive of Neha, for LYING & FALSELY ACCUSING us – shall be publicly named & shamed on ThinkForex.com’s website in a special Page for this purpose. Their crimes shall be known to all.
- The guilty parties shall be fired – with written proof of same and the accompanying reasons – and Public Notice of these firings – inclusive of said reasons - shall also be posted on the same Page. Written confirmation of same shall be sent to the victim of their sabotage and attacks.
- The sum of 33,000 GBP shall be paid to the victim as restitution for these wicked actions against him.
- The victim shall – if he so wishes – trade commission-free in perpetuity using ThinkForex.com and its services. No fees shall be charged to the victim for any of ThinkForex’s services.
If these Terms are met and agreed to in writing – in full – within five (5) business days, no further actions shall be taken against ThinkForex and its principals, agents, and/or employees. ThinkForex will then be released from all guilt and liability concerning these matters detailed herein.
Conversely, if these Terms are not met within the stated time limit, more expensive actions shall commence against you, your Company and the guilty parties, personally and severally.
To quote the wise king Solomon:
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. - Ecclesiastes 8:11
Comments from an experienced trader who now owns his own brokerage.
Hi,
Well, it sounds to me like they were blindsided by you making excellent profits against them, this means they would have taken the other side of your trade and expected you to lose, but taking the other side does not make them a bucket shop, using tricks to screw you out of your trades is in fact what defines a bucket shop.
More Testimonials From Experienced Traders
Ayum, , Japan
Rating:
No Rating
Date of Post:
2013-01-13
Review:
I admit that they did some improvement to their depth of market information because the board comes to show not “0.0K” anymore but ALWAYS SHOWS “3.0M” now for both bid and ask of each currency pair, and when changing either bid or ask becomes “5.0M” for a moment and goes back to “3.0M”.
Still ridiculous. It is still not useful for trading at all.
Before not so. The total amount shows bigger amount as “17M” once even “60M” was seen and fluctuating continuously .
If they can not repair fully to their former level, it shows their liquidity becomes so little and which is risky for us traders.
2013-01-06 2Star*They quit offering usable market depth information with one-click tool at least to me.
Till last week using one-click tool at pro account, I could see order price variation and total order amounts for bid and ask for each currency pair respectively, which was very useful for my trading.
But sometime before NY close of last week, I noticed something strange about the tool, because suddenly the total amount shown on the tool became very little, then the price varilation listed on the tool became out of order.
I thought it might be cause by sluggishness of the stock market at that hour, and hoped would be OK on Monday.
But even Monday today the tool has been showing total order amount for eur/usd is 0.0K and there is no price variation.
Rediculous.
I contacted with their support, but no result.
I am very much disappointed at this.
If they do not offer the market depth information, they can not be a real ECN broker.
I want to know this is caused whether by their strategy change or by personal interference to my trading.
If it is caused by their strategy change, maybe I should go back to Japanese broker.
Friends, if you are also a user of the tool, please inform me whether the tool still offer you useful market depth information .
please let me inform ThinkForex HAS there TRADINGDESK department.
I did not understand what their tradingdesk department’s task is
if they are NDD.
I want to see how they reply to this.*
Rasfil, London, United Kingdom
Rating:
No Rating
Date of Post:
2012-11-09
Review:
They are bucket shop scam broker, they stop hunt and bet against you. checkout here