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.
PocketOption is a binary options broker offering bets on more than 30 currency pairs, gold, silver, oil and stocks, as well as on more than 60 crypto coins, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Ripple, Zcash, Dash, Litecoin, EOS, Stellar, Monero, IOTA, TRON, Tether, Cardano, NEO and OmiseGO.
The payout on the benchmark EURUSD pair is as high as 96%, which is really competitive. Another good news is that you can start betting at PocketOption with just 50 USD.
However, have in mind that since July 2nd, as part of a broader effort to curb investment risks, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) enforced a total ban on all binary options bets in EU, so basically all PocketOption operations in the Union are illegal.
PocketOption regulation & safety of funds
PocketOption is owned by Gembell Limited, a company registered on the Marsha Islands and operated by Tifiya Group s.r.o. – a company that is said to be representative of Gembell Limited in EU. Besides, the broker claims to be regulated by the International Financial Market Relations Regulation Center (IFMRRC). However, we remain very suspicions about the regulatory status of PocketOption and all the companies behind it.
First, IFMRRC or FMRC is not a legit financial watchdog. It is just an anonymous website, where you can find a list of unregulated offshore brokers, which we strongly advise you to avoid. (Our research shows that most probably the people behind IFMRRC or FMRC are Russian.)
As for the Marshal Islands registration of Gembell Limited, have in mind that any one can register a business on that small South Pacific atoll, right here on the internet, without ever setting a foot there. So basically PocketOption is just another unregulated, offshore broker with very low credibility.
Have in mind that proper regulation is crucial for the safety of any investment. Brokers, holding a licenses by well respected financial authorities such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) or the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) are required to abide by strict financial and ethical rules, among which to keep all clients money in a segregated, protected form creditors account, as well as to maintain a certain level of minimum operational capital.
In addition, all traders with FCA brokers are entitled to a compensation of up to 50 000 GBP in case their broker is unable to pay. Similarly, all traders with CySEC brokers are granted up to 20 000 EUR of their capital.
PocketOption deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
You have quite a variety of payment methods with PocketOption. You can choose between major credit or debit cards like VISA and MasterCard, a number of e-wallets, including Neteller, Skrill, QIWI, Perfect Money, FasaPay, WebMoney, PayEer, Yandex Money and AvaCash, bank wire and even crypto coins.
PocketOption accepts Bitcoin, BitcoinCash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash and Zcash. As we have already mentioned, the minimum deposit to start betting with PocketOption is 50 USD.
How does the scam work?
Although scammers may use various scenarios to steal your money, here is what usually happens:
You will come across one of those robo- scam websites like Bitcoin Revolution or Bitcoin Method, where you will watch a persuasive video, telling you how you can make some easy money by investing with a cutting-edge trading app or platform. All you have to do is register, leaving your e-mail and phone.
And if you get hooked, you will be transferred to the web sire of an unregulated, offshore broker, where you will be asked to deposit around 250 USD and start making money right away.
Besides, your first trades with your brand new account will be surprisingly successful. However, that will happen because your account will be manipulated. Actually, that is when you will receive a call form a “senior account manager”, who will try to persuade you to invest let say 10 000 USD, because that is how you will start making real money.
And chances are you will invest those 10 000 USD as well, and then everything will look fine for a while, until you decide to withdraw some money. May be, if the sum is small compared to your investment, they will pay you the first time, so that you might be tricked latter to invest even more.
But if you try to withdraw a more substantial sum, it will simply turn out you can not. There will be some obscure clause in the Terms and Conditions, linking the right to withdraw with a certain trade volume requirement or the welcoming bonus you have carelessly accepted, when you opened your account in the first place. In any case, the bottom line is you will not be able to withdraw anything.
Take a note, that at some point the scammers will ask you to send them copies of your ID and a proof of address (your electricity bill for example). They will say, they need those documents, because of the anti-money laundering legislation. The truth, however is, if you send them your personal information voluntarily, the scammers will have a much stronger case, if you file for a charge back with your credit card company.
Be aware also that some scammers might even try to trick you to install Team Viewer under the pretext to help you with some installation or with the funding of your account. If you allow this, you can be sure they will get to your credit card number and banking details and will steal money form your bank account directly.
What to do if scammed?
Immediately file for a charge back with your credit card provider. Have in mind you will be able to do that only within the first six months, after you have made the deposit.
If for any reason you have given away your credit card number or banking details, or you have agreed to install team viewer, immediately cancel your credit card, delete Team Viewer and change the password for your online banking service.
In the unfortunate event you have lost money to scammers, do not loose even more by contacting the so called recovery agencies. You will just loose more money and time without any result.
maryam
If you make a profit, after a while it will send you a message that you have used an unauthorized bot or trading software and it will zero your account.
And you have no way to withdraw your money
Javid
On the pocket option site, as soon as they find out that you are profiting more than the capital and the possibility of losing is low, they block you with unjustified reasons and no explanation, and all profits are zero. And they do not respond to any follow-up requests. The ifmrrc site is also a fake site created by the same sites and only wastes your time with machine emails. In short, all the sites related to ifmrrc are the same and their only work is fraud. Please have mercy on yourself.