Beware! IntelligentCapital 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.
IntelligentCapital is a CFD forex brokerage registered offshore. It provides the MetaTrader 4 trading platform and an extremely generous leverage. Traders are extended a leverage of up to 1:100. Furthermore, there is a wide range of trading products from which to choose and a spread of 3 pips on EUR/USD. The minimum deposit is $250 which is just about the industry average.
IntelligentCapital FM regulation & safety of funds
According to the website the brokerage is owned and operated by Intelligent V.B.Ltd which is registered at Trust company complex, Ajeltake road, Ajeltake Islands, Majuro, MH96960.The Marshall Islands is a favorite destination for would-be scammers due to its very liberal laws regarding the registering of companies. The government does not even require for someone to be physically there in order to register a company. Such a loophole has surely been noticed by many ill-minded brokers and utilized. Such clear-cut signs of trouble should give us reason enough to suspect the brokerage and doubt its intentions.
We urge traders to exclude such risk in trading by only associating with brokers regulated by prestigious regulatory agencies, such as the 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.
IntelligentCapital deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
Clients may deposit or withdraw via Visa, MasterCard, MegaTransfer and bank/wire transfer. Going through the brokers website we did find some disturbing provisions in the terms of the brokerage. Clients are granted one withdrawal a month which is exempt of charge, but subsequent withdrawals which might follow are charged with a procession fee of $30 for every withdrawal.
We must also remind readers of 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?
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:
Through clicking an ad with promises for fast money, you will be redirected to a website such as Bitcoin Evolution or The bitcoin miner where registration will require you to give your address, email and phone number. After sharing your personal information, you will being receiving calls from brokers, compelling you to invest with them and win big. After a few minutes hearing their pitches, you decide to deposit some $200-250. And just like that – the scammers take a fat commission from this initial deposit.
After they are done with you, senior scammers begin working you into putting even more money. They say it’s the only way to profit from trading even more. After making the mistake of investing even further, you’ll begin wanting to get out of this and withdraw what you have left.
Unfortunately, the con-artists have no such thing in mind. They will now begin persuading you to wait it out and not withdraw right now. The motive here is quite straightforward – traders have a limited time window for filing a chargeback with their bank and get their money back. The “recovery department” will simply want to mislead you into missing this crucial period and, along the way, losing any chance you might have of getting the money back. Due to the high instances of fraud – both Visa and MasterCard have taken upon themselves to circumvent scammers in forex trading. Backing up their intentions – MasterCard has already increased the previous time period of six months for filing a chargeback to a year and a half and Visa is expected to follow suit in December.
What to do when scammed?
As was mentioned above, scamming is quite the common in the trading world and, sadly, even you might suffer from it. In such an unfortunate case there still may be some available options for you.
You may contact your bank or credit card provider and file a chargeback.
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 switch it asap!
Beware of potential calls from self-described “recovery agencies”! They prey on scammed and vulnerable traders who are desperate to recover their losses. They will require an “up-front” payment to help you, but after paying them, no such help will be coming your way!
Peter Constable
Intelligent capital has scammed me of 33000us. It started with a small investment then the senior brokers moved in. They entered our bank accounts and stole thousands. We tried to get our money back but they would not respond. They are the scum of the earth using a number of pysuedo names leo valentine, Dan Michael’s Anne grant. DO Not get taken in by these disgusting people.
Eric Powell
I also lost money from this scam. Not as much as the above person, but $3250. It started when I deposited $250.00 in an ad for “Shark Tank” bitcoin investment. A person called “Christian Green” contacted me and talked me into investing further. Over some months I added $3000, but found him to be completely unreliable, I realise now it was possibly because I would not add more money. As soon as I demanded the supposed $9000 in my account, I received an email stating that C.Green was taking 3 months leave, and was given the contact of Dan M as mentioned above. Dan M was useless as a contact, and in the past week I was contacted by a “company” called FTM or similar who had taken over I.C. They again did not call back when they stated they would, surprise, surprise, so anyone who is contacted by a similar company hang up on them, or if you have the means, try and trace them. They cannot be completely invisible.
Fanie
I was contacted by Benjamin Brown and the latest is that you must first paid the CGT before your money will be released. I paid the money. The worst is you cannot get hold of Intelligent Capital-c.Not even their support. But I have opened a case with the British Police Fraud unit and also Interpol.