Beware! PrizmFX 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.
PrizmFX offers four account types with a leverage of up to 200:1 and the MetaTrader5 platform. Trading instruments include 28 currency pairs and a gold CFD.
The benchmark EURUSD spread, as tested with a demo account, floated about 2 pips, which is about half a pip higher than the levels traders would usually consider attractive with a standard account.
Trading conditions put aside, however, our main concern is with the regulatory status of the broker, which we will discuss in the following section.
PrizmFX regulation & safety of funds
The company behind the broker is PrizmFX Limited and it has a contact address in the UK. Apart form that, however, we know almost nothing about them. That is why we diligently checked the registers of the local Financial Conduct Authority – the UK institution, where all companies providing financial services should be registered and licensed.
Unfortunately we were not able to find PrizmFX Limited in the FCA registers and that significantly lowers the reputation of the broker. Actually, PrizmFX Limited has no right to operate on regulated markets such as the UK, the European Union, the USA or Japan at all.
Trading with unregulated brokers has always been associated with a significant risk of loosing your money to scammers. Brokers, regulated by reliable institutions 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) on the other hand can be trusted, because of the strict rules they have to abide by.
And besides, brokers regulated in the EU are even obliged to insure traders funds. So if you are trading with a FCA broker you will not have to worry about the first 50 000 GBP in your account, even if the broker files for bankruptcy. Similarly, if you are trading with a CySEC broker your insurance will cover up to 20 000 EUT of your funds.
PrizmFX deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
PrizmFX accepts various payment methods including popular e-wallets like Neteller and Skrill, major cards like VISA and MasterCard and bank wire.
Unfortunately nowhere on their web site we were able to find PrizmFX Terms and Conditions, to check if there are any additional fees or special withdraw conditions, linked to trading bonuses.
In any case be especially careful with the trading bonuses as too often they are accompanied by excessive withdraw conditions, which might restrict your right to withdraw.
The minimum deposit requirement to start trading with PrizmFX is 100 USD.
How does the scam work?
You may not have heard about the so called robo scam websites like Crypto Revolt and Bitcoin Evolution, but those are very popular among scammers, who use them to hook for victims. Basically you will watch a nicely cut video add with an “irresistible offer” for fast and easy money, completely risk free and in exchange of a tiny investment. And all you will be asked for in the beginning will be your e-mail and phone.
And note, that after you register you will be promptly transferred to the web page of a unregulated, offshore broker, where you will have to deposit about 250 USD.
Besides, do not be surprised by how fantastic your initial trades will be – the money in your account will double in just a day or two. That, however is a part of the scam. Your account will be manipulated, so that you will be more susceptible to the idea of investing a larger sum.
And that is when you will receive a phone call as well. It will be form your “senior account manager”, who will expertly explain, that if you want to make some real cash, you will simply have to invest more – at least 10 000 USD or so.
And most probably you will not realize that 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, because of some minimum trade volume requirement, linked to the trading bonus you have accepted in the first place. Certainly it could be something else, but the bottom line will be the same – you will not be able to withdraw anything.
What to do if scammed?
Filing for a charge back with your credit card company is your only chance to get some of your money back. So that is the first thing to do. The good news here is that VISA and MasterCard extended the period in which you will be allowed to file for a charge back to 540 days.
If by any means scammers have tricked you to tell them your credit card number and online banking password, be sure to immediately cancel your credit card and change your password.
And do not trust the so called recovery agencies – they will simply collect an upfront payment and will leave you even more deeper in to the red.
