Beware! FXLinked 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.
FXLinked a forex and CFD broker based on the Seychelles. They say they are regulated by the local financial commission, but unfortunately we were not able to find them in the registers.
As for the trading conditions, the benchmark EURUSD spread looks good – just 1 pip, which is in line with what most traders would expect with a standard account. And besides FXLinked offers just one account type – the FxLinked Global Account with a maximum leverage of up to 1:400 and a minimum deposit requirement of just 10 USD.
The selection of trading instruments is also good – over 50 forex pairs with a number of exotic currencies like Mexican Peso, Hungarian Forint, Hong Kong Dollar, Danish Krone, Chinese Yuan, South African Rand, Turkish Lira, Singapore Dollar, Swedish Krona, Russian Ruble, Polish Zloty and Norwegian Krone, CFDs on 130 stocks, 17 indices, silver, gold, oil and natural gas, as well as commodities like cocoa, cotton, corn, coffee, sugar, soybean, wheat and copper.
All of that is offered with a choice between MetaTarder4 and MetaTarder5 platforms, but let us talk a bit more about the regulatory status of the broker, as this remains our biggest concern.
FXLinked regulation & safety of funds
FXLinked is owned and operated by FXLinked LTD, which is registered on the Seychelles. The brokers says they are regulated as a Securities Dealer by the local Financial Services Authority of Seychelles, but unfortunately we were not able to find neither the name of the broker, not the name of the company in the registers of the Authority.
Besides, our best advise is to invest only with brokers, regulated by reputable financial watchdogs, such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) as all licensed companies there are subject to very strict financial and ethical rules.
Besides, if you trade with an FCA broker you will be even entitled to a compensation of up to 50 000 GBP in case your broker happens to be insolvent. Similarly with CySEC brokers you can receive back up to 20 000 EUR of your trading capital.
FXLinked deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
There are many ways to pay with FXLinked. They accept major credit and debit cards like VISA and MasterCard, e-wallets like Payza, Neteller, Skrill, WebMoney and Perfect Money, as well as bank wire.
Have in mind, however, that FXLinked “reserve the right to impose withdrawal limits and withdrawal fees at any time”. We came across that clause in the broker’s “Terms and Conditions” and we find it rather unusual.
How does the scam work?
Surely there are many ways scammers use to get to your money, and yet here is one of the more common ones: You will watch a video on one of the so called robo-scam websites like the Bitcoin Method and Bitcoin Revolution and you will be hooked to leave your e-mail and phone, with a promise of some easy money.
Most probably the video will be about and innovative trading software or an app and basically if you register you will be immediately transferred to the web page of a unregulated, offshore broker, where you will be urged to invest just 250 USD and start making money right away.
And do not be surprised if your first trades are unexpectedly successful. The reason for that is simple. Your account will be manipulated so that you can get more easily hooked to invest more.
That is when you will receive a phone call by your “senior account manager”, who will very convincingly explain you, that if you want to start making real money, you will simply have to invest more – like 10 000 for a start.
And everything will look fine until the moment you decide to withdraw some of your funds. It will turn out this is not possible, because of some minimum trade volume requirement, linked to the welcoming bonus you have accepted.
It could be something else, but whatever the reason, the bottom line is you will not be able to withdraw anything.
What to do if scammed?
Immediately file for a charge back with your credit card provider. The good news here is that since October, with MasterCard you will be able to file for a charge back within 540 days and a similar measure will be adopted by VISA in December.
If by any chance scammers have obtained your credit card number or the password for your online banking service, immediately change the password and cancel your credit card.
Finally, if you have fallen a victim to a scam, do not seek the services of the so called recovery agencies. They will just collect an upfront payment and will leave you even deeper in to the red.
