Beware! PrimusTrades 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.
PrimusTrades is a forex brokerage which does not disclose much information about itself which also focuses on bitcoin mining. The required minimum deposit is way above the industry average and quite excessive. Traders have invest at least $3000 in order to get a taste of real-money trading.
PrimusTrades regulation & safety of funds
As was stated above – the brokerage does not disclose much information about itself. Going through the brokers website and its terms and conditions we could not gather the company name, although it states to be based in London. Furthermore, it leads us to believe it falls under the regulatory oversight of CySEC, however, searching the online registry of the regulator in Cyprus did not yield any relevant results regarding the brokerage. We can confirm that PrimusTrades is not licensed by CySEC. What is more – we even come upon a warning issued by the regulator advising traders not to do business with PrimusTrades.This is deeply troubling since information regarding the people behind the brokerage is perhaps among the most crucial aspect in trading. Usually scammers decide not to share much information, because precisely there irregularities may come up which expose the scam.
We urge traders to minimize the risk of fraud by trading solely with brokers regulated by prestigious regulatory agencies, such as the UK’s FCA and CySec, which require compliance with a number of strict rules that give significant assurance for the security of the clients funds.
The segregation of accounts is among the rules which are especially important in the trading world, because it drastically lowers the risk of possible commingling.
Another is the participation in a compensatory scheme by which the client’s losses will be covered in the unlikely case the broker goes bankrupt or attempts to swindle traders.
PrimusTrades deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
Potential clients of the brokerage may deposit or withdraw via Western Union, Bitcoin, Bank Wire, Perfect Money and MoneyGram. Going through the brokers website we did not come across quite any troubling provisions, but that is in no way a guarantee there aren’t actually any in store for traders. However, there is a one month waiting period for your first withdrawal which is not something you run into while doing business with a legitimate brokerage.
We always emphasize that traders should not trust at face-value brokerages, especially those lacking credible regulation. They must first make sure not to invest more than the minimum required of them, so that they don’t lose a larger-than-necessary sum if the broker turns out to be a scam. Furthermore, they may also try to withdraw a small amount in order to check for any unexpected fees or delays. Scammers will usually have such hidden.
How does the scam work?
Besides judging the brokerage beforehand through the info given on its website, a valuable piece of information in the trading world would be precisely how a scam would go about. Here is a description of the typical three steps:
A click-bait ad about fast money will take you to a website like Bitcoin Blueprint or Bitcoin Millionaire Pro where registration will require you to give your address, email and phone number. Calls from broker will follow, telling you to invest with them and reap huge profits. After a few minutes on the phone with them, you decide to deposit some $200-250. Little do you know that from that initial deposit the broker on the phone takes a nice fat piece as commission.
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.
Closing the account will prove to be a difficult task. The “recovery department” will take you and yet another representative will have some other trading opportunities to share with you. He will attempt to stall you in order not to file a chargeback with your bank right away. That possibility forever closes when six months pass after the initial deposit with the broker.
What to do if scammed?
Unfortunately, much of the forex trading world is overshadowed by the huge numbers of scammers. All a trader may do is be well-informed and, in case he is the subject of a fraud – stay calm and not panic! The chance for panic is greatly reduced if such a situation does not take you by surprise. Here are the available options for scammed traders:
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!
So-called “recovery agencies” should not be trusted! Such agencies target scammed and vulnerable traders in an attempt to further swindle them into giving away their money. They will require from you an “up-front payment” in order to get your money back, but no such thing will happen!
