Feel free to list any Forex scams you have come across. These may be brokers, signal providers, scam redemption schemes, etc.
A few thread ‘rules’:
Stick to facts - if you can’t support your claim then your post may be removed. Heresay and rumours are not welcome.
Educational courses are NOT a scam if they offer education, regardless of quality or cost.
Suggestions that help others carry out due diligence are very welcome, this is an important part of learning how to trade, in my opinion.
For the sake of fairness, I invite anyone named here as a likely scammer to respond and put their side of the story forward.
A very basic starting point I use for due diligence:
Look at the small print on the proposed brokers website to see where they are “regulated”. If you can’t find anything, avoid them. If they are “regulated” with an authority that offers little or no protection, as in many of the more exotic locations, avoid them.
If they say they are regulated in an area that does offer protection, i.e. Europe, the US, or the UK, check on that regulators website that this is true.
As I’ve mentioned several times before here please note that there is a difference between REGISTRATION and REGULATION. In other words: a broker can be REGISTERED in a certain country which authorizes them to carry on certain activities within that country but it does NOT mean that they are REGULATED by the regulatory authority in such country. Now while it may be true that in the case of a broker that is only REGISTERED in a certain country you at least have somebody to complain to: there’s really not much that such regulatory authority can do other than, probably, give them a slap on the wrist or, possibly, de-register them but neither of which are going to solve any problem for the trader. Classic example of this is posted somewhere on another forum here i.e. some Israeli outfit is REGISTERED with the FCA in the UK (number and all) but they are not REGULATED by the FCA in the UK and do not have a local presence in the UK. There is nothing that the FCA can do other than quite possibly issue a warning or de-register them (and in this particular case that’s not happened in spite of the FCA in the UK being made aware of their fraudulent tactics). Taking the UK as an example for further explanation: only a broker that has a locally registered business entity and physical presence in the UK can be FCA REGISTERED AND REGULATED.
So. Just something else to be on the lookout for (and to further complicate matters).
I don’t know how many threads you visit during the day. But I can tell you that VERY few actually even bother to read a thread before posting some inane repetition. You think they’re going to bother to stop and read my BS??? LOL!!!
Well you know how it is. The prospect of making cool cash all day sitting in front of a computer surely is more of an attraction than going through the fine prints of making a real business out of it.
So naturally most members gravitate towards the thread that satiates their interests. Hopefully things slowly change and we can start thinking not only about making money but also about protecting it.
You want to have a side bet that between my going to bed tonight and waking up tomorrow morning that there will be another brand new thread asking about leverage and pips??? LOL!!! Or another brand new thread asking if Forex-R-Us located in Donkey Sh1t City, Republica de Las Paranoias is legit!!! LOL!!!
I know at least one person that will appreciate the above though!!! LOL!!!
Doesn’t that make logging on to BP every morning all the more exciting? The thoughts of all these interesting new topics and posts for a brand new day lol.
Well I suppose we all can’t start the same way though, most will fall out the back door they were attempting to get in through. But some, very few might manage to make it through and become something totally different from their first few content posted on a Trading Forum somewhere on the internet.
Now whether that makes it all worth it, enough to brave through all these posts everyday (even when the BP School of Pipsology is just a mouse click or two away)? Well, that remains to be decided
That’s true zrrsy… The scam brokers can take the 10K but we must give bad reviews to these brokers so that they will not only lose their investment back in advertising but will also lose from scamming out of the people’s money. Please continue to give bad reviews for these scam and unscrupulous brokers. Good job!
I think the point of this thread was to LIST scams and scammy brokers. Not to have a general discussion on the topic (although I must apologize myself here as barring my first post here I’m also guilty).
WE can also use something like already well known thing from something like Forex Peace Army, they have solid list of scammy brokers, be it Forex or Binary Options, or do you want to have some other scam sites database ? Let us know this.
As long as what is posted is factual and not heresay - no "I’ve heard this…, or “my friend knows someone who…”
We’ve all seen posts here calling people scammers only to find later that the poster had broken the brokers rules, had misunderstood the terms, or was blaming them on his inability to trade
But at the risk of repeating myself for the thirtieth time (give or take) though:
Simply having an FCA register number is NOT good enough. The broker needs to be REGISTERED AND REGULATED by the FCA. And the only way they can be REGISTERED AND REGULATED by the FCA is for them to have a PHYSICAL PRESENCE in the UK and have a REGISTERED BUSINESS ENTITY (Companies House) within the the UK. In addition: the broker MUST belong to the FSCS i.e. this is a statutory REQUIREMENT for a FCA REGISTERED AND REGULATED broker. If every one of these does not hold true then beware. If NOTHING else: the FCA does not guarantee client funds. ONLY the FSCS guarantees client funds.
Here’s the problem and which is exploited by the bucket shop brigade:
An offshore broker can apply for REGISTRATION with the FCA. All this means is that they are licensed to conduct certain business activities. Nothing more. And once they have the FCA register number then they’re pretty economical with the truth on their websites when it comes to disclosure and the wording and obviously the express intent is to fool the unsuspecting. Fact of the matter is that under these circumstances: the FCA is powerless. Best they can do in case of complaints or fraud is de-register the offending broker and issue a public warning on their website. That’s it.
Now as to WHY the FCA allows REGISTRATION ONLY is beyond me. But for now it is what it is.
Sadly, however, and just to add:
None of the above is any guarantee either. Even a bucket shop will go to the lengths of opening some small shithole office somewhere in the basement just to get around all of this. Probably your best bet (no pun intended) is to ensure that they have a UK bank account as that’s where the rubber meets the road.
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