Finding scam brokers

[JRB48]

How can you determine if a broker is involved in fraudulent activities?
I mean figuring out it is scam?

[Emi.s]

1. Reg check: Make sure the broker is legit and registered with the SEC or FINRA.
2. Platform vibes: Look at their site. If it looks shady, might be a scam.
3. No free lunch: Promises of high returns, no risk? Total red flag.
4. Clear as day: Look for transparency in fees & trading terms. No clarity = bad news.
5. Pressure cooker: If they’re rushing you to invest, pump the brakes.
6. Review reality check: Scope out online reviews, but remember, they can be faked.
7. Trust that gut: If it feels off, it probably is. Always do your research!

[ria_rose]

The first and, I think, the most important thing to confirm is if they’re regulated. I also used to think that brokers that offer bonuses are automatically shady, but I’ve seen people here talk about how that’s not always the case.

[Jenirogan]

Honestly it is not as easy as it seems, even regulated companies can mess with your funds easily

[swiftieatheart]

Shouldn’t this be reported, as is the point of them being regulated?

[flamingoproxy]

@Jenirogan

even regulated companies can mess with your funds easily

only if they’re brokers who have chosen to be “regulated” somewhere like Vanuatu or the Seychelles or St. Vincent, where there isn’t any proper regulation and the customers aren’t protected at all

this is why it’s SO important to use only brokers who are regulated by ASIC, FCA or CFTC, so that they can’t mess with your funds easily

it’s not about being “regulated”, in other words - it matters where and by whom they’re regulated

but as long as people think it’s a clever idea to be “going offshore to escape the CFTC” (which was set up specifically to protect them!) the horror stories about scam brokers that fill all trading forums will continue for ever

the post linked to just below (and a few posts following it) explain the situation:-

Text correction: dealing desk or non-dealing desk?

they do which is exactly what all the counterparty market-makers want them to think, of course and many of the conversations in this forum tacitly assume that when people are “trading” with these “brokers,” they’re actually dealing in currencies rather than just having a side-bet on the price-movements of currencies! indeed - but you can’t really blame people for imagining that, when the whole industry is set up to encourage them to believe it? all you can do is annoy and irrit…

@swiftieatheart

Shouldn’t this be reported

it doesn’t help customers to report things to fake regulators, and unfortunately the world is full of them - brokers choose by whom to be regulated; many of them aren’t real brokers, and many aren’t real regulators either … it’s a great shame, but the reality is that all forex traders need to do, to avoid 99.9% of the disasters that so regularly happen, is to make sure that their account with a forex broker is an account that’s regulated by FCA, ASIC or CFTC - these are proper regulators - it’s honestly not much more complicated than that

anyone who has ever actually worked in the industry will tell you exactly what I’ve said above, but meanwhile there are also countless people posting in trading forums (especially here and at FF) who will tell you that “regulators don’t really protect you” and that “i use an unregulated broker and they’re fine, i’ve never had a problem,” and that “even regulated companies can mess with your funds” … so the bottom line is that it’s like very many other things in life where there‘s conflicting information: we all just have to decide for ourselves whom we believe

[ponponwei]

@flamingoproxy

we all just have to decide for ourselves whom we believe

This. Your mileage may vary, as they say.