Beware! PVP Markets 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.
PVP Markets is a unregulated, offshore forex and CFD broker, offering four account types with a leverage of up to 400:1 on the MetaTrader4 platform.
In its presentation the broker says to be offering quite a variety of CFDs on crypto coins, indices and commodities, as well as over 50 forex pairs. To our surprise, however, when we opened a demo account we came across only 16 forex pairs with several exotic currencies like South African Rand, Polish Zloty, Turkish Lira, Singapore Dollar, Swedish Krona, Norwegian Krone, Honk Kong Dollar and Czech Krona. Other trading instruments included CFDs on gold and silver. That was all.
And spreads were much higher than those advertised in the broker’s presentation too. The benchmark EURUSD spread was fixed at 4,9 pips, which is about four times higher than the levels traders are usually expecting to see with a standard account.
PVP Markets regulation & safety of funds
PVP Markets is owned and operated by PVP Markets Ltd, a company incorporated in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Unfortunately, the company does not have a license to provide financial services by any official regulator like the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) or the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and that makes their operations on regulated markets illegal.
It is true that PVP Markets admits this and in their disclaimer they say not to be offering services in the United Kingdom, Cyprus, France, Belgium, Germany, USA, Canada or Saint Vincent and Grenadine itself. They, however, do target customers in other EU countries as well as Australia and that is a violation of the local rules.
Generally, trading with unregulated brokers is associated with significant risks so we strongly advise you to deal only with brokers, licensed by well respected regulators such as CySEC, FCA and ASIC.
Besides, your funds with an FCA broker will be insured up to 50 000 GBP, while with CySEC brokers the insured amount, payable in the unlikely event your broker files for bankruptcy, is up to 20 000 EUR.
PVP Markets deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
PVP Markets accepts payments with some popular e-wallets like Neteller and Skrill, Mopesa, VoguePay, Vload, major cards like VISA and MasterCard, wire transfer and even Bitcoins. The minimum deposit requirement is 250 USD, which is in line with what most other brokers would ask you for. Have in mind that your account will be subject to a 10 USD monthly, maintenance fee and if you accept a trading bonus your right to withdraw will be linked to a certain minimum trade volume requirement.
How does the scam work?
Probably you have not heard about the so called robo scam web sites like Crypto Revolt and Bitcoin Evolution, but believe me scammers find them quite useful. Basically, they are designed around a well cut video telling you a story about how easily you can get filthy rich – all you should do is try an innovative trading platform or app – of course everything is completely risk free and the investment is minimal.
And if you get hooked and fill the simple registration form with your e-mail and phone, you will be instantly transferred to the web site of a unregulated, offshore broker, where you will have to deposit your first 250 USD. Besides, if you do deposit those money the people running the robo scam web site will get their commission
And do not be surprised that your first trades with the scam broker will be so successful. That will not be real. Your account will simply be manipulated so that latter you will be more easily tricked to invest a larger amount.
And surely you will receive a call form “your senior account manager”, who will expertly advise you to invest at least 10 000 USD, if you want to start making real money. And chances are you will invest those money as well and probably you will not realize you have been scammed until the very moment you decide to withdraw some of your funds. Than it will suddenly turn out you can not withdraw anything because you have not reached a certain minimum trade volume requirement, you have agreed with, when you have accepted your trading bonus. Of course it could be something else, but the bottom line will always be the same – you will not see a single penny back.
What to do if scammed?
Do not waste a second but immediately file for a charge back with your credit card provider. This is the best chance to get some of your money back and besides, recently VISA and MasterCard extended the period in which you can file for a charge back to 540 days.
And if by any means you have given away your credit card number and online banking password, immediately change the password and cancel your credit card.
Finally, do not trust the offers of the so called recovery agencies. They will simply collect an upfront payment and basically that is the last time you will hear form them.
