Beware! SolidCapital 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.
SolidCapital is presented as a global, online forex and CFD broker, offering over 300 tradable assets, including 60 plus forex pairs, as well as CFDs on indices, bonds, ETFs, commodities, stocks and crypto coins, with leverage as high as 200:1 and a web based platform. If you think that this is a legit broker, however, think again. SolidCapital is registered offshore and has no legit forex license, which basically mans that we are talking about scammers.
SolidCapital regulation & safety of funds
At first we thought that SolidCapital is another anonymous website, as nowhere in their presentation do they mention the name of their company. We were wrong – in the middle of their Client Agreement we found a company called Vital Resources LTD, based and incorporated in the Marshall Islands. That however does not make things better.
The Marshall Islands are a notorious offshore territory, where you can open a company right here on the internet, preferred by all kind of shady businesses, including online scam brokers. And because SolidCapital are not regulated either, this basically means that their credibility is virtually zero.
The reason why you can not trust unregulated, offshore brokers like SolidCapital is simple – they do not have to report to any one, and they can handle your money the way they want – if they decide to cancel your withdraw requests, they will do it and can do nothing about it. And forget about any legal action – try to sue a shell company with a post box address in the middle of the Pacific and you will understand what we mean.
Regulated brokers on the other hand are a different story. Those are serious companies based in the UK, the EU or Australia, which are duly licensed by the local financial authorities like the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) – those are the three most popular regulators in the forex industry and that is why we mention them.
Properly regulated brokers will be completely transparent about their operations and will follow strict rules, among which to maintain a certain minimum operational capital – 730 000 EUR with EU and UK brokers and 1 000 000 AUD with brokers regulated in Australia – to store all clients’ money in a segregated from their own, trust account; to report all client transactions and in some cases even to participate in client compensation schemes. Thu,s with a UK regulated broker a special insurance fund will cover the firts 85 000 GBP in your trading account, payable in case you broker goes bankrupt.
SolidCapital deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
As for the payment methods, in their presentation SolidCapital says that you may pay with credit and debit cards like VISA and MasterCard, Skrill, Neteller, bank wire and more. When we proceeded with our registration and attempted to make a payment however, the only option we were given was a third party payment provider called Bridger Pay, which on its part transferred us to quamtor.com where we were asked to make a payment in bitcoins. (In case we do not have a bitcoin wallet we were kindly asked to create one on blockchain.com).
So, the only way to make a payment at SolidCapital is in bitcoins and this is notable because bitcoin payments and all crypto payments in general are more or less anonymous – there is no record, who makes the payment and who receives it – and the payment is completely irreversible, you have no option to file for a charge back in case you realize you have been scammed.
If you have paid with VISA or MasterCard, or with major e-wallets like Skrill, Neteller or PayPal, on the other hand you can always file for a charge back in case something goes wrong. That kind of explains why scammers generally prefer payments with crypto coins. Otherwise the minimum deposit requirement is 250 USD.
Also, when it comes to withdraws SolidCapital state in their terms and conditions that they are “not committed to any time frame”, which is simply ridiculous. See for yourself:
Be aware as well of any trading bonuses unregulated websites like SolidCapital might offer you. Trading bonuses are another favorite excuse scammers use to cancel your withdraw requests. The problem is that trading bonuses always come with strings attached – a minimum trade volume requirement. And if that is not bad enough, scammers usually reserve the right to change their bonus policy on the move, and that also explains why you may never reach the above mentioned minimum trade volume requirement.
Finally, we noted that SolidCapital is offering its clients a link to download Any Desk and we are worried about that too.
Any Desk is a remote desktop application, which if installed and shared, will give scammers access to your PC, including your personal banking details like your credit card number and online banking password. If that happens scammers can easily drain your credit card.
How does the scam work?
People usually get scammed after unwittingly they happen to register with one of the so called robo scam websites like Crypto Engine and Crypto Master Bot. There they will be assured that they will make lots of money if they join some innovative trading app, which is supposed to trade by itself, doubling your capital every week or so, while you seat back and watch. This surely sounds exciting and if you do register with the website, leaving your e-mail and phone, right away you will be transferred to yet another website – this time of a unregulated, offshore broker, where you will be asked to deposit about 250 USD.
And than your scam ordeal will begin. Your first trades might seem amazingly successful, but that is because scammers will manipulate your trading results. And than you will start receiving regular calls by your so called account manager, who basically will be trying to convince you to deposit as much as you can – 10 000 USD at least, because that is how, you will be told, you will start making real money and will become financial independent.
When you attempt to withdraw some of your funds, however, you will be explained that you can not, because you have not met your minimum trade volume requirement, possibly connected to your trading bonus. Certainly the story might be different, but the result will always be the same. You will not be allowed to withdraw a single dollar.
What to do if scammed?
Your best chance to recover your deposit, if you are a victim of scam, is to file for a charge back with your local bank in case you have paid with your VISA or MasterCard. The good news is that both VISA and MasterCard currently allow scam victims to file for a charge back within 540 days. And you can do the same if you have paid with one of the major e-wallets including Skrill, PayPal, and Neteller. If you have paid with bitcoins, however, tough luck – we are pessimistic that you will be able to recover anything.
And if you have been tricked to install Team Viewer or AnyDesk, or any other remote desktop application, immediately delete the application, because that way scammers will have access to your online banking password and credit card details. If that has happened you should cancel your credit card and change your online banking password as well.
Finally, we strongly advise you to avoid the so called recovery agencies. Those guys will not help you recover any funds, but simply will collect some commission in advance and that will be the end of the story.
