Beware! Impex Trading 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.
Impex Trading is an offshore broker that says to be offering “a wide range of services and opportunities to get access to stock and OTC markets including forex”. Unfortunately in their presentation they do not provide much information about their trading conditions, nor do they offer the option to try their services with a demo account.
What bothers us even more, however, is the fact that they appear to be offering managed accounts, something that no legit broker will ever do – most brokers, including the properly licensed ones act as market makers, which means that they make money whenever traders lose. So if a market maker like Impex Trading offers you to manage your account, this is called conflict of interest.
Also, we have some serious questions about the regulatory status of the broker, so if you are considering opening an account with them be sure to read this review first.
Impex Trading regulation & safety of funds
Impex Trading is owned and operated by an offshore company – IMPEX TRADING Limited, which as we understand is based in Vanuatu – an offshore territory in the middle of the Pacific ocean. And they say to be regulated by the local Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC).
Such a license, although better than nothing is barely worth more than the piece of paper it is printed on. And the simple reason for that is that the Vanuatu Commission simply lacks the resources to oversee internationally operating brokers like Impex Trading.
So our best advise is to deal only with brokers licensed and authorized by well known and well respected financial watchdogs like the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) or the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
Take a note as well that all payments connected to the broker are processed by a Russian limited liability company – Leon Invest.
Impex Trading deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
Unfortunately Impex Trading does not tell us what payment methods do they accept. And they do not say what is their minimum deposit requirement. Just bear in mind that besides bank wire most brokers accept payments with major credit or debit cards like VISA and MasterCard, and e-wallets like PayPal, Neteller and Skrill. The usual minimum deposit requirement is about 250 USD.
How does the scam work?
Scammers employ lots of resource to get to new potential victims. They use call centers in the Philippines and Eastern Europe and specialized internet portals, like Bitcoin Profit and Brexit Trader, which we call robo scam websites, where you might be lured by some irresistible offer for quick and risk free cash in exchange of a modest investment with some ground breaking trading software, that supposedly will generate profits, while you sit back and watch.
And if you really get hooked and do leave your e-mail and phone in the simple registration form, without even noticing you will be transferred to the website of a unregulated, offshore, scam broker, where you will be offered a trading account with an initial deposit of about 250 USD.
Take a note that scammers might let you trade your account by yourself, or they might offer you a managed account, which is another favorite scam technique. In practice almost all brokers, even legit ones, are market makers, which means they profit whenever traders lose. So if a market maker offers to manage your account, obviously this qualifies as a conflict of interest.
If on the other hand scammers let you trade by yourself, you will be amazed how successful your initial trades will be. That however will be the result of a simple manipulation with the sole intention that you concede to invest more. And that is what your senior account manager will be telling you as well – if you want to get rich, you definitely have to deposit more – at least 10 000 USD or so.
And most people get carried away by the initial “success” of their trades and do invest as much as they can, without realizing they have been scammed until the moment they decide to withdraw some of their funds. Than all of a sudden they are told they can not withdraw, because of some minimum trade volume requirement, most probably linked to their trading bonus. Whatever the excuse the end result will invariably be the same – all withdraw attempts will be futile.
What to do if scammed?
Although in case you are scammed the chances to get your money back will honestly be pretty slim, one viable step is to file for a charge back with your credit card provider. The good news is that since last October both VISA and MasterCard will let you do that within 540 days. So if you have paid with a credit or debit card, do it immediately.
And if scammers have managed to trick you to tell them your personal banking details like your credit card number or online banking password, be sure to change the password immediately and block your credit card. And if for some reason you were tricked to install Team Viewer, delete the program as well.
And keep away from the so called recovery agencies, if you do not want to get scammed a second time in a row. They will surely not recover your money, but simply will ask for some fees in advance, basically leaving you even deeper into the red.
