Beware! FxTrader 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.
FxTrader.net says to be a brand name of “one of the most respected online Forex trading firms in the industry” with almost 20 years of experience, without however bothering to specify which that company might be. Otherwise they claim to be based and regulated in New Zealand, but without any corporate details at hand, it is impossible to verity any of this.
Otherwise FxTrader.net says to be offering over 50 forex pairs, as well as various CFDs on precious metals like silver and gold, oil, futures, commodities, stocks and bitcoins with leverage as high as 1000:1 and a choice between the MetaTader4 and MetaTarder5 platforms.
Unfortunately the MT4 and MT5 platforms were not available for download on their website, but that seems like the least of FxTrader.net problems. If you are wandering whether it would be a good idea to deposit your funds with FxTrader be sure to read the following paragraphs.
FxTrader regulation & safety of funds
FxTrader claims to be a regulated Financial Service Provider in New Zealand, but that simply turned out not to be true. As we already noted, the website is virtually anonymous – no company name or corporate details, not even a phone number – just some post box address, which simply does not count.
So basically what we have here is a unregulated, anonymous scam website, which we strongly advise you to avoid.
And bear in mind that trading with unregulated brokers in general is a recipe to get scammed. Unregulated brokers are simply not accountable for the way they handle their clients’ funds, no mater what they say.
Properly licensed brokers on the other hand have to follow strict fiscal and ethical rules, to file regular reports with the official regulatory body that oversees them, to allow external audits, and in certain cases even to insure the trading capital for their clients, by participating in special client compensation funds.
And besides, the three most popular regulatory destinations in the industry – Europe, the UK and Australia provide both security to traders and operational flexibility to the brokers, so here we may suggest that you chose among the brokers, which are licensed and authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
FxTrader deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
FxTrader says to accept bank wire transfers and some alternate payment methods without specifying what exactly. Bear in mind that legit brokers accept payments with major cards like VISA and MasterCard, as well as popular e-wallets like Neteller and Skrill.
As for their minimum deposit requirement FxTrader, says you can start trading with just 50 USD, which is in line with the best practices in the market.
For their managed account however you will have to invest no less than 10 000 USD, and here is where we have a problem. FxTrader is presented as a forex and CFD broker, and because virtually all brokers act as market makers, this means they make money whenever traders lose. So you can imagine that if you let market makers like FxTrader to manage your money, they will surely have the incentive to mismanage them and lose them in their own pockets.
Now, there are some major companies, which are not forex and CFD brokers, but money managers, which manage the securities portfolio of individual or institutional investors with the fiduciary duty to choose and manage investments prudently for their clients, including by developing an appropriate investment strategy for buying and selling securities on the stock exchange.
Money managers, however are subject to even more strict regulatory regime than forex brokers, and what is more, a single company can not offer both services – money management and brokerage.
How does the scam work?
Among the various channels scammers use to hunt for new victims, worth mentioning are the so called robo scam websites like Bitcoin Revival and Bitcoin Profit, which function like advertising traps for gullible investors. On a website like this usually you will watch some rather convincing video ad, where you will be told the story of how easily you can get filthy rich if you just fill a simple registration form with your e-mail and phone, and join some revolutionary trading platform, where trading robots are supposed to generate profits as you sit back and watch.
Take a note that by registering you will be immediately transferred to the website of a unregulated broker, where you will be advised to deposit about 250 USD.
And besides, do not be surprised if your initial trades are amazingly successful and in a matter of days the money in your account seem to have doubled. That will be just a part of the scam. Scammers will be manipulating your trading account with the sole intention to trick you to invest more. And that is what your senior “account manager” will be telling you as well – if you want to make some real cash you will definitely have to invest more – like at least 10 000 USD.
And at that stage quite too many people do invest that kind of money without realizing they have been scammed until the day they try to withdraw some of their balance. Than out of the blue it will turn out this is not possible because of some minimum trade volume requirement, linked to some trading bonus. The excuses might certainly be different, but the end result will always be the same – scammers will not give a single penny back.
What to do if scammed?
Even if you are a victim of a scam, you still have a chance to see your deposit back, but only if you have paid with a credit card. If that is the case, immediately file for a charge back with your credit card company- currently both VISA and MasterCard will allow you to do that within 540 days.
And if for some reason scammers have managed to trick you to reveal your personal banking details, like your credit card number and online banking password, immediately change the password and block your credit card.
Also, be aware that some scammers might try to make you install a remote desktop application like Team Viewer or AnyDesk and share the details with them. If that is the case immediately deinstall the program, because otherwise scammers will have access to your PC and will be able to steal money directly form your bank account.
Finally if by any chance you get approached by one of the so called recovery agencies, do not fall for a second scam. Those people will not help you in any way, but simply will charge you some fees in advance, basically scamming you a second time.
