Beware! ProCapitalFX is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.

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ProCapitalFX is Forex brokerage presumably registered in the UK. It provides the MetaTrader4 trading platform and an extremely generous leverage. Traders are extended a leverage of up to 1:500. Furthermore, there is a wide range of trading products from which to choose and the required minimum deposit is only $250 which is also the standard in Forex trading and nothing out of the ordinary.

ProCapitalFX regulation & safety of funds

The company behind ProCapitalFX is purported to be Game Capital Ads Limited, however, going through the brokers website we could not find much relevant information about the brokerage. We did came across a contact UK number which leads us to conclude the brokerage is based there. Forex brokerages in the UK fall under the regulatory oversight of the Financial Conduct Authority which requires compliance with a number of strict rules. We do no find a mention of a license and after checking on the online registry of the FCA, we can safely conclude that the brokerage is not monitored by any regulatory body. Such anonymity and lack of corporate information is worrisome signs and probably means that the brokerage has ill-minded intentions.

However, in order to be impartial – the brokerage does in fact offer the MetaTrader4 platform which is the foremost trading terminal at the moment and it also provides clients with a test-drive. However, there is, again, a caveat – the platform is actually provided by a third party, West Media Group. Researching the company we find it is blacklisted by the Italian financial watchdog CONSOB. Here is a screenshot:

Being blacklisted in Forex trading is about the most clear-cut sign of trouble and traders should take notice.

Nonetheless,through a demo account we could see a spread on EUR/USD of just 0.1 pip which is quite low and almost unbelievable. On it we could see that clients are extended a leverage of up to 1:500 which is absurdly high and cannot be provided anywhere in Europe due to new restrictions set by ESMA. The cap on the maximum allowed leverage in Europe is 1:30 at the moment. Such restrictions have even forced some brokerages in the UK – such as Abshire-Smith – to cease operations.

All in all, we believe that ProCapitalFX is a shady brokerage and traders would do well not to risk it by investing funds.

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.

ProCapitalFX deposit/withdrawal methods and fees

Potential clients of the brokerage may deposit or withdraw via the standard Visa, MasterCard, Bank wire, as well as popular e-wallets such as Neteller and AstroPay.

In the brokers terms and conditions we could not find any explicitly stated withdrawal fees or withdrawal provision but we should not hasten to state there aren’t any. Many a time unregulated brokerages charge clients with unexpected fees only after they have received funds. This is precisely why we always 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 Crypto Cash 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.

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. The growth of scammers that are spawning everyday in forex trading has forced both financial services giants Visa and Mastercard to step up and take action. MasterCard has already increased the previous time period of six months for filing a chargeback to a year and a half, effectively bypassing the “recovery department” part of the scam, and its rival Visa will follow suit in December.

If, however, you have provided the broker with your credit card number and CVV code, 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!

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