Beware! Crypto Invest Home is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
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Crypto Invest Home is a Forex brokerage presumably registered in Estonia. It provides a web-based trading platform, not the MT4 trading terminal and clients are extended a generous but balanced leverage of 1:200. Furthermore, there is wide range of trading products from which to choose but the spread on EUR/USD is 3.3 pips which is quite high and unfavorable for traders. There is a required minimum deposit of $250 which is standard for the industry.
Crypto Invest Home regulation & safety of funds
According to the website the company behind the brokerage is registered in Estonia by the name Tsattleia Trade OU, however, in the terms and conditions of the brokerage we come across another company name Grau International OU. Such a lack of clarity in the corporate information of a brokerage is more often than not a sign of trouble. Estonia is a member-state of the EU and has diligently included online Forex trading within its regulatory framework. However, after checking with the online registry, we can safely conclude it does not hold a license by Finantsinspektsioon. As a matter of fact we know of only one Forex brokerage that holds a license from the country’s financial regulator – Admiral Markets.
The latter company owns and operates a broker brand by the name EasyTrade which was blacklisted, along with over 40 unregulated brokerages, by the Financial Supervision Commission of Bulgaria. According to the Bulgarian authorities EasyTrade was providing financial services to Bulgarian clients without being authorized nor licensed to do so.
The brokerage does not provide clients with a demo account for the supposed trading platform which is a further sign of shady activities. We do read on the website that the spread is quite high at 3.3 pips on EUR/USD, especially compared to the industry average of a pip and a half.
The official warning issued by the government of Bulgaria, as well as the lack of regulation inclines us to believe that potential clients of the brokerage may be open to substantial risk.
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.
Crypto Invest Home Investments deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
Potential clients of the brokerage may deposit or withdraw via Visa, MasterCard, wire transfer, Neteller, Skrill, WebMoney, QIWI Wallet, Yandex Money, AstroPay and Paysafe Card. In the terms and conditions of the brokerage we came across quite a few troubling provisions.
There is a very excessive minimum withdrawal amount of $100. Such a minimum withdrawal amount should not figure among the terms of a legitimate brokerage. Furthermore, there is a $30 withdrawal fee, which, again, is quite a lot for a simple withdrawal.We also come across a dormant account fee of $30 on inactive accounts. Here is a screenshot:
We advise traders stay away from the brokerage and to always be diligent and 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?
Information is a pretty solid criteria for judging a brokers legitimacy. Scammers would not share much of their information, because precisely there inconsistencies and irregularities may appear which expose the whole set-up. A good example is this very broker and the misleading information it gave regarding its regulatory status.
After informing themselves for the brokers trading conditions – traders should be well-versed in the way of the scam:
Through clicking an ad with promises for fast money, you will be redirected to a website such as Bitcoin Evolution or Crypto Revolt where registration will require you to give your 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.
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. Furthermore, due to the high instances of fraud – both Visa and MasterCard have decided to sidestep scammers as best they can in forex trading. The first thing we have seen so far is that MasterCard has increased the previous time period of six months for filing a chargeback to a year and a half with their peer Visa expected to follow suit in December.
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!
