Beware! Financial Signal is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
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Financial Signal is a CFD brokerage based in the Czech Republic. It provides а web-based trading platform, not the the MetaTrader 4 platform. Clients are extended a leverage of up to 1:200 and have a wide range of currency pairs available. The spread on EUR/USD, however, is 7 pips which is quite high and the required minimum deposit is twice the industry average.
Financial Signal regulation & safety of funds
Reading through the terms and conditions of the brokerage we discern that the website is actually operated by a Czech company with the name Signal Invention s.r.o. We remind readers that the Czech Republic is a member-state of the European Union and online Forex trading is duly integrated within its regulatory framework which is modeled after the ESMA guidelines.
However, we find no mention of a license by the Czech authorities – thus we may safely conclude that the brokerage Financial Signal does not fall under any regulatory oversight whatsoever. This further means that the broker is providing such financial services without proper authorization and is targeting traders illegally. This puts a lot of risk in trading with Financial Signal.
On top of all this, we learn through the website of the Italian CONSOB which keeps and updates a comprehensive lists of all regulatory warnings from foreign financial watchdogs that the illegal activities of Financial Signal have not gone unnoticed and that the Czech National Bank has blacklisted the brokerage. This is definite red flag in Forex trading and we can safely assume that clients will be exposed to major risk if they choose to do business with Financial Signal.
Traders needn’t have to worry themselves with such risk if they choose to trade with a brokerage regulated and authorized by a prestigious regulatory agency. Such agencies are the FCA in the UK or CySec in Cyprus which have been leading names in Forex trading for some time now. Their regulatory framework is composed of a number of strict rules which prevent clients from falling victims to fraud. Such rules include the segregation of accounts which assures that commingling with the client’s money is not possible. Furthermore, a license by such a regulatory body entails participation in a financial mechanism by which clients may be compensated if they suffer losses due to fraud or bankruptcy. With the FCA the compensation is up to 85 000 pounds, where as with CySEC it is up to 20 000 euro per person.
Financial Signal trading software
The brokerage does offer a test-drive of its web-based trading platform which is always a welcome sight. Here is a screenshot:
Through a demo account we could see a spread on EUR/USD of 7 pips which is excessively high and more than four times the industry average of a pip and a half. Furthermore, the web-based trading platform leaves something to be desired and the required minimum deposit is high as well. The brokerage does not provide the MetaTrader 4 trading platform (only a web-based one) which we always consider a disadvantage since it is the foremost trading terminal at the moment equipped with features such as almost a 100 market indicators, as well as customizable trading robots.
Financial Signals deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
Potential clients of the brokerage may deposit or withdraw via the standard Visa, MasterCard and bank wire, as well as Bitcoin. However, we do no see the popular e-wallets such as WebMoney, Neteller, Skrill which saddens us.
Going through the terms and conditions of the brokerage we did come upon provisions worth noting. The brokerage openly states that it does not charge withdrawal fees or trading commissions. However, there are bonus withdrawal conditions which are unfortunately undisclosed. Such a requirement isn’t at all uncommon for unregulated brokerages who only wait for clients fall into the trap.
As was stated – we did not find any stated withdrawal fees, however, dealing with unregulated brokerage we may never be sure whether they wont charge unexpected fees once the clients have deposited their funds. This is why we advise traders 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?
Even though the forex trading world is extremely large and encompasses millions of people around the globe, the most common scamming is pretty simple and straightforward and as such – it’s not particularly daring to avoid. Here is a quick overview of how it is done:
Through clicking an ad with promises for fast money, you will be redirected to a website such as Bitcoin Evolution or Cashless PayGroup 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 angle here is pretty blunt – traders have a limited time period for filing a chargeback with their bank and get their money back. The “recovery department” will simply want to mislead you into missing thе crucial period and, along the way, losing any chance you might have of getting the money back.
It is important here to take notice that both Visa and MasterCard are taking measures to combat unregulated forex brokerages by classifying all forex transactions as high risk. And with the case Btcoinpro – they are correct in doing so. Furthermore, supporting their intention with clear actions – MasterCard has increased the previous time period of six months for filing a chargeback to a year and a half.
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.
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!
Wisernow
I made a small deposit to try them out with the promise i can withdraw 30% of the profit each month.I will keep you up to date with progress and i will be honest with the good and bad results.
Robert
Have bad experiences and the described is exactly hoe it goes. Now all sort of excuses in why cannot withdraw funds calling me namens in getting it done. All not in line with policies either of credit card company and legal Financial instituties. It is your money and will file a full docunented complaint at financial government body.
Wisernow
Do not invest with these scammers,I said I wanted to withdraw my money then they said they wanted to pay me the money into a crypto account. They said i would have to deposit into a new crypto account that they set up for me before they could pay the withdrawal into that account. It was an attempt to steal more of my money.
tym morrison
scam be careful
Gunter
HI
I was scammed by Tradex1 and their VIP platform http://www.financial-signal.com for Eur 280000!!
Please help to stop Natasha Klein aka Natasha Amanda Klein Koss and the other brokers in this boiler room fraud to steel more money. They do not pay your money back! I have set up two websites http://www.tradex1.info and http://www.financial-signal.info to point to my case and the fraud and to avoid future scams by them. Please link to these pages as they will finally be ranked higher and will be seen early enough before one places his deposit in their wallet. Thanks!
Best,
Gunter
K
This article is very true. I was contacted by Natasha Amanda Koss who pretended to be from Corporate Division and said that my funds will be refunded in full as long as I sign an agreement and wire them Circulation Fees which calculated based on some simple formula. I paid them a little over $4K but right after the payment she has disappeared as if never existed. I was scammed by a company called ECN Premium and Financial Signal pretended to be their sister concern. So all in all I was scammed for over $60K. If you want to trade don’t be afraid but make sure you do your due diligence. Do not trust brokers that promise you high profits, do not trust brokers who are not licensed and the ones that don’t separately keep investors funds from broker’s, usually when you deposit into their off shore account somewhere on islands your money is gone forever! Many Brokers will tell you that they are licensed but in reality that is BS. Trading is an amazing way to earn extra income but only if you have enough free capital. With a smaller amounts you will only loose money, don’t trust when they tell you that you can start with as low as $1000 or even $5000. These amounts are literally dust in the forex world.
Shayne Box
Has anyone heard of gfxroyal? this Natasha Amanada Koss has sent me an email as we have just opened a trading account. is this the same scammer?
K
Hi Shayne! Yes, it is the same Natasha Amanda Koss and they are scammers! Do not deal with them, she will talk to you as if she knows you for many years (very friendly) and at the end her whatsapp goes offline and she disappears. All they are doing is taking everyone’s money. I was a victim, I lost about $64K. They open and close websites very quickly because that is what scammers do apparently. I used to trade with they fake website, ECNPremium.com and now that websites redirects to another weird money making website with an online form. It seems like this is an organized scam, similar to organized crime. They are a bunch of people working together. Please don’t fall for their words. If you want to keep trading, deal with a reputable and properly licensed broker, you can find them all online. There are tons of dodgy websites and companies out there, beware and good luck!
Shayne
Thanks K.
can you suggest any?
Goldy
Do not touch these people they will steal your money I lost 28000 GPB Thomas Berk was the trader
Goldy
Yes do not trade with Gfx royal they are scammers they will steal your money. I lost money with them they are very friendly all the time you are investing with them .only invest with licensed company’s or you will loose your money
Nikos
Hi! I cheated 550 euros from Andy Ross for http://www.trdpremium.com and 755 euros from Enea Magnus for http://www.financial-signal.com. These 2 work together. The first one threw me into the second. They’re big cheats.
Eser
Hi !
I could not withdraw my 100k+ money back from financial-signal.com.
Any option to do? Any legal case?
Thanks for any comment and help.
They are really very big liars.
Jason leggo
Yeah I got scammed nearly $5000 and now the bank is saying I orthorisd it. And im not getting my money back