It was a bucketshop that doesn’t exist anymore.
I was a newbie, struggling to make a profit. I had (and still have) a good friend who was also learning how to trade when she discovered a certain broker which promised her (an employee promised her) that he’ll be giving her signals by phone and she’ll be making a profit. Indeed, she did begin making a profit and told me about it, then suggested that I sign up with them too, which I did. The employee started calling me and telling me how to trade. The first few times were successful, then he began to give me worse and worse signals and I began to lose money, while he began to try and convince me to expand my account so I could wait out the market to turn around. It’s really typical behaviour for scammers, but at the time I didn’t realize it. He was doing the same with my friend. At some point I put my foot down and ended it all, though I couldn’t withdraw my money, and neither could my friend. She actually lost more than I did. It was a very unpleasant lesson.
Only much later I realized they didn’t have any kind of regulation anywhere. At the time it didn’t even occur to me to check.
I’ve read somewhere that Zuckerberg lost a big money during the collapse of prices. That’s may be the reason why he prohibited the advertising of cryptocurrency on Facebook
Thank you for sharing this story @mlawson. It is definitely a very good example for the way these scammers are enticing striving newbies. Classical way for fraud. It is good that you decided to stop on time even though you couldn’t withdraw your funds, at least you could have lost even more like your friend.
there’s bitcointalk.org if you wanna avoid scams. they always detect scammers there. Zuckerberg will even lose more now that he banned adverts of these crypto related ads.
You’re welcome. That bucketshop absolutely took advange of my friend and took advantage of me - we were both ignorant and vulnerable and they knew it. I hate to see it happen to anyone else.
@mlawson71 I am sorry for this awful situation. But I guess this is what these guys do, counting on newbies who are striving for fast and easy money. Glad to hear that this bucketshop doesn’t exist anymore although there are hundreds like them out there. I feel very bad when I hear about such cases but at least most people try to warn others and protect them in a way.
Thank you for the kind words, Sebastiano,I really appreciate them.
I have largely gotten over the hurt by now, but the memory makes me wary to this day. I am not easy to trust. I guess it was an important lesson to learn, I just wish it wasn’t so unpleasant.
Beginning in June, all ads for online trading – Forex, CFDs and financial spread betting – will be required to be certified by Google before they can advertise through AdWords.
Ads for Binary Options will be banned altogether.
While we’re still having conversations with Google to get more clarification, it’s worth noting that FOREX.com and our parent company GAIN Capital have never offered binary options.
The full text of the new Google Adwords policy note reads as follows:
Financial Services: New restricted financial products policy (June 2018)
In June 2018, Google will update the Financial services policy to restrict the advertisement of Contracts for Difference, rolling spot forex, and financial spread betting. In addition, ads for the following will no longer be allowed to serve:
Binary options and synonymous products
Cryptocurrencies and related content (including but not limited to initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency exchanges, cryptocurrency wallets, and cryptocurrency trading advice)
Ads for aggregators and affiliates for the following will no longer be allowed to serve:
Contracts for Difference
Rolling spot forex
Financial spread betting
Binary options and synonymous products
Cryptocurrencies and related content.
Advertisers offering Contracts for Difference, rolling spot forex, and financial spread betting will be required to be certified by Google before they can advertise through AdWords. Certification is only available in certain countries.
To be certified by Google, advertisers will need to:
Be licensed by the relevant financial services authority in the country or countries they are targeting
Ensure their ads and landing pages comply with all AdWords policies
Comply with relevant legal requirements, including those related to complex speculative financial products
Advertisers can request certification with Google starting March 2018 when the application form is published.
This policy will apply globally to all accounts that advertise these financial products.
You are most welcome, @mlawson71. Of course you have, like you said it, it was a long time ago. The pain goes away but the memory doesn’t. It is interesting how the most valuable lessons are the hardest and hurt us the most. But I guess we’ll never learn otherwise…
I guess it’s possible to learn if you have someone to teach you that you can trust, someone who is not taking advantage of your naivete and ignorance too. But very few traders have that privilege, unfortunately.
Every company has its own rules and regulations, terms, and policies. You have to obey them in order to build a strong relation. If Facebook has banned such prospects then you need to follow its policy with no complaints and questions. What do you people think?
I think it’s just fine to complain and question things with the caveat that one should be aware that the company doesn’t have to listen to you. You, in turn, are free to work with a different company.
That is an utopia I guess…or it could be possible if it runs in the family. For sure it cannot be expected from a broker or a mentor unless if you don’t pay a significant amount of cash…and still there is no guarantee.
Good point about learning within your family. I have an acquaintance who learned how to trade from a close family member, it was highly beneficial to them, definitely.
