ForexStart Review – 5 things you should know about Forexstart.com

Beware! ForexStart is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.

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Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.

ForexStart is a Russia-based МТ4 forex brokerage with a decent range of trading products. It provides its clients with a wide range of payment methods, including a number of cryptos and has a stated spread of 0.5 pips on EUR/USD. The trading conditions are certainly favorable, but we cannot be sure of them due to the lack of a demo account.

ForexStart regulation & safety of funds

ForexStart states on its website to be a representative of Tim Group Limited in Russia, but does not give any mention of a regulatory oversight. It further purports to provide a test-drive of the trading platform, however, after signing up for a demo and following up the link sent by email – we ended up nowhere – the page stated it “did not exist”. This highly inclines us to believe we are dealing with a scammer, especially having in mind that the brokerage is not overseen by any relevant authority, nor does it give a registered address. Furthermore, the lack of regulation opens potential clients of the brokerage to a number of risks.

Regulatory bodies such as the NFA or CySec force a broker to comply with a number of strict rules that lower the risk of fraud and give assurance for the safety of the clients funds.

One such rule is the segregation of accounts which forces the brokerage to handle the finances of the clients separately from their own and greatly lowers the risk of commingling. Another is a requirement for a starting capital of € 730 000 which weeds out scammers.

ForexStart deposit/withdrawal methods and fees

As was mentioned above, potential clients of the brokerage have a wide range of payment methods from which to choose. They may deposit or withdraw via Webmoney, Visa, Mastercard, Yandex Money, QIWI, Ethereum, Monero, Dash, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin, Skrill, PerfectMoney, UnionPay. We could not find any fees or nasty withdrawal conditions in the brokers terms, but traders should always take notice of the all the ways a trader may test the brokerage’s intentions. Firstly, traders are advised to always put up only the required minimum deposit, instead of risking a bigger amount with no certainty. Afterwards, they may also try to withdraw a small amount in order to check for any unexpected fees or delays. Such fees and delays are usually the signs of a scammer.

How does the scam work?

Unfortunately, taking part in forex trading also means exposing yourself to a substantial risk of fraud. You might as well be prepared, because scammers will make an attempt on you regardless of how informed you are. Here is how a typical scam would unfold:

By clicking on an ad with promises for fast money you will be redirected to a nice-looking website such as BitcoinMethod or Bitcoin Revolution with a high-budget trailer. The video will convince you to register and give away your address, phone number and email. Minutes later your personal data will be sent to a number of brokers who’ll begin calling you with trading offers. After a few minutes on the phone with them you decide to deposit $200-250. And as effortlessly as that – the broker gets a commission of $50 from your initial deposit.

The scam, however, continues and what follows is called the “retention”. Senior scammers will now begin addressing you on the phone and explaining all the advantages in further investing with them. After you decide to go for it, you may even win on a few trades and go up by, say, a couple thousand. Naturally, you will begin wanting to close the account and take away your profits.

Unfortunately, closing the account won’t turn out to be a walk in the park. The “recovery department” will take you and yet another representative will have some other trading opportunities to share with you. His game is pretty simple – he has to mislead you into waiting six months or more so that you may not file a chargeback with your bank and get your money back. That possibility forever closes when six months pass after the initial deposit with the broker.

What to do if scammed?

A scam could happen to anyone, including you, and, in such a case, it would be best to know what options are still available to you.

You may contact your bank or credit card provider and file a chargeback, but only within six months of the initial deposit, as was noted above.

If however you have provided the broker with your credit card details, immediately cancel your credit card.

If you have given information regarding your online banking pass – you should change it asap!

Scammed traders should take notice not to trust any so-called “recovery agencies”! Such agencies prey on vulnerable traders with talk of recovering their money in exchange for an “up-front payment”. After receiving the payment, the trader won’t hear from them again.