Beware! This is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.
HispaMarkets is a forex broker that offers trading in various CFDs on the widely used MetaTrader4 platform. However, it has not presented clearly its offer to (potential) clients, as the trading conditions announced on its website are limited to the minimum initial deposit of $2 000 (pretty high) and leverage up to 1:500. There is no information on the trading costs at HispaMarkets, such as spreads and/or commission fees. This, in combination with the unregulated status of this broker, make it an unreliable trading partner.
HispaMarkets regulation & safety of funds
In our opinion, financial regulation is the most important criteria, when choosing a forex broker. Almost all countries have some form of agency, which oversees financial markets and the major participants in them. The one in the UK, for example, is FCA and it has pretty strict requirements for local brokers. The situation in offshore zones, however is quite different. Most of those sunny islands with marvelous beaches have favourable taxes and easy and low-cost registration procedures for companies, financial services providers included. Basically, there is no licensing and no regulatory oversight, which means that clients of such brokers are exposed to a number of risks.
Unfortunately, this is the case with HispaMarkets – the company owning it is registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Usually this is enough for the more experienced traders to avoid a forex broker, but the case with HispaMarkets is even worse, as the company is the part of 1000 extra group, which also operates another brokerage brand with the same name. It seems that the group targets mainly Spanish-speaking investors from Latin America, and many of them complain they have been scammed. So, you’d better stay away from HispaMarkets and 1000 Extra.
HispaMarkets deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
This broker uses the following payment methods: Bank wire, Automatic Clearing House (“ACH”), and credit cards such as Visa or Mastercard. We did not find any information on fees on deposits or withdrawals, but the terms and conditions uploaded on HispaMarkets’ website contain the following paragraph, which we find a bit strange:
“In order to prevent money laundering, fraud, and other unauthorized activity, HISPA MKTS LTD AFFILIATED TO 1000 EXTRA Group may limit Customer’s withdrawal options.”
Yet another part of the above-mentioned document contains some conditions, which, according to us, are not favorable for clients of HispaMarkets:
How does the scam work?
There are many schemes designed to defraud traders by convincing them they can gain high profit by trading the forex market, but usually scammers get the contact information of potential victims from some phishing websites. Then they start cold-calling them, promising fast and easy profits in low-risk environment. Some of these sales pitches result in investment of $200-250 and at initially most of the trades go really well. Then victims usually get a call from a “Senior analyst” or “Senior Account Manager”, who persuades them to deposit more and earn some real money. Be sure that fraudsters take a fat commission from each deposit you make.
Many decide to invest more, as by this point they have doubled or tripled their initial deposit. However, then their trades usually start turning red, but the Account Manager tries to talk them into not closing them. At some point victims usually wish to close the account and cash out and here is the time when the “recovery” team steps in. Their task is to mislead victims into waiting six months or more so that the term within which they can file a chargeback with the bank expires.
What to do if scammed?
We suggest that You immediately contact your bank or credit card provider and file for a charge back. As we already mentioned, that may work only within a 6-month period.
In case you have given any banking details to the fraudsters such as credit card number, or they have convinced you to install a TeamViewer, you should cancel your credit card ASAP. Also, if you have provided the “broker” with the pass for your online banking service, you need to change the password immediately.
Another thing to be wary about is the self-described “recovery agencies”. Many of them prey on investors who have already been scammed and are desperate to recover their losses. They usually require an “up-front” payment to help you out, and if you sent them any money, the recovery agency will disappear just like the broker that scammed you earlier.
