Beware! Exen Markets is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
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Exen Markets says to be a UK broker, offering a selection of forex pairs and various CFDs on indices, commodities, spot metals and even crypto coins like Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, IOTA and Bitcoin, with five account types, leverage as high as 200:1 and a web based trading platform.
When we opened their web based platform the spread on the benchmark EURUSD pair floated about 3,5 pips, which is way above the levels traders would usually consider attractive with a standard account – under 1,5 pips for sure – and yet this is not our main concern with Exen Markets, but the fact that they are simply not regulated, and that makes the risk of trading with them unacceptably high.
Exen Markets regulation & safety of funds
As we understand from their presentation Exen Markets is owned and operated by Exen Markets Ltd., which is supposedly base in the UK. Bear in mind that UK is one of the most rigorously regulated markets in the financial sector and basically all companies that provide any financial services there, should be registered with the local Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Unfortunately, when we checked the FCA registers, we were not able to find Exen Markets there and that means they operate on British soil illegally.
Also, as the UK is still a part of the EU, that means Exen Markets is not regulated by any other European regulator such as BaFin in Germany or the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) either, because a license from any national regulator in EU would have meant a registration with the FCA as well.
Thus Exen Markets appears not to be authorized to operate on the European market as well.
Exen Markets deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
Exen Markets says they accept payments with bank wire and debit and credit cards like VISA and MasterCard, but they mention nothing about e-wallets like Skrill for example, and that is worth mentioning, because of the new anti scam policy adopted by the money transfer company. Currently Skrill partners only with brokers, holding legit licenses. As we already noted Exen Markets is not a regulated broker.
Also beware of any trading bonuses that Exen Markets might offer you, because they will invariably come with a certain minimum trade volume requirement, which unless fulfilled, will be used as an excuse to deny your withdraw requests.
The practice of offering trading bonuses is quite controversial in general as too often scammers use them as a pretext to refuse any payments.
Also, take a note that Exen Markets says to be processing withdraw requests within 7 to 10 business days and that is highly unusual as well. Most brokers will process your withdraw request within 24 hours.
Otherwise the minimum deposit requirement of 250 USD is in line with what most other broker would ask.
How does the scam work?
If you have ever wondered how scammers hunt for new victims, one of their favorite channels are the so called robo scam websites like Bitcoin Profit and Brexit Trader where you may get hooked by a promise of fast and easy returns, with a small and “risk free” investment. At least that is what the cheese video ad will be telling you. And if you do register by leaving your e-mail and phone, instantly you will be redirected to the web page of one of the numerous offshore, unregulated brokers, where you will be invited to deposit about 250 USD.
And your first trades will go smoothly and in no time the money in you account will seem to have doubled. That however will not be real. Scammers will be simply manipulating your account with the sole intention to trick you to invest more. And so would suggest your “senior account manager” as well. He or she will be calling you on a regular basis with trading signals and advises, but the true message will be like this – if you really want to make some real cash you will surely have to invest more, like at least 10 000 USD.
And many traders do invest that kind of money, without ever realizing they have been scammed until the day they decide to withdraw some of their funds. Than, all of a sudden it turns out they can not, because of some minimum trade volume requirement, they have agreed with without realizing, when they have accepted their welcoming bonus in the first place. Certainly the pretext to cancel your withdraw requests might be different, but the result will always be the same – you will not be getting a single penny back.
What to do if scammed?
Probably the best chance you have to retrieve your deposit is to file for charge back with your credit card company. Fortunately, under their new anti-scam policy, both VISA and MasterCard now allow their clients to file for a charge back within 540 days.
And if somehow scammers have managed to get to your personal banking details like credit card numbers and online banking password, immediately change the password and cancel your credit card.
Finally, if you are approached by the so called recovery agencies, do not trust them. Those people will not recover your money but will simply charge you some fees in advance and basically that is how the story will end.
